US President George W. Bush stuck by his largely hands-off approach to Middle East policy Tuesday, telling Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon he "will not try to force peace" on Israel and the Palestinians, according to AFP.
"We'll do everything we can to help calm nerves, to encourage there to be dialogue," said the US leader, who since taking office January 20 has broken with predecessor Bill Clinton's intensely personal approach to the region.
"I told him our nation will not try to force peace, that we'll facilitate peace and that we will work with those responsible for peace," he said in a brief joint appearance after the two leaders met for the first time since taking office.
The agency said that Sharon insisted that Bush endorsed his adamant position that peace talks with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat were impossible until the latter acts to end six months of violence.
The US leader publicly kept mum on the subject, said AFP.
"The first thing and the most important one is to bring security to the citizens of Israel," Sharon said. "Once we reach security, and it will be calm in the Middle East, I believe that we'll start our negotiations to reach a peace agreement."
Sharon later told some reporters that he had urged the president not to invite Arafat because such a meeting "would be proof that terrorism pays." Bush did not respond, according to Israeli officials.
Haaretz quoted Bush as saying that "I told him that our nation will not try to force peace," Bush told reporters after a White House meeting between the two. "We'll facilitate peace and ... we will work with those responsible for a peace."
Over grilled fish at lunch, said the paper, Sharon promised Bush that Israel will continue easing conditions for the Palestinians "and punish those responsible for the terror incidents and operations."
Bush expressed interest in what Sharon called his plans for economic cooperation with the Palestinians, including a major desalination project, the daily added.
But while the president's public appearances with Sharon appeared friendly, behind the scenes, US Secretary of State Colin Powell told Sharon that Israel has to "give the Palestinians some hope" by easing the tough conditions of closure and siege. Sharon responded that he "tried," but had not seen a response in kind by the Palestinians.
"We understand your difficulty," Powell was quoted as telling Sharon, according to a US diplomatic source, "but we also think it's important to give the people a sense of trust and confidence." Specifically, Powell named the taxes collected by Israel from Palestinians, which Israel refuses to hand over to the Palestinian Authority on the grounds that they will be used to pay the salaries of Palestinian forces currently engaged in terror attacks on Israel. The U.S. was furious over Finance Minister Silvan Shalom's declaration that he would not pass on the estimated $50 million to the PA.
On another issue, Powell made clear to the Israeli delegation that the US does not regard an absolute halt to the violence as a precondition for resuming a dialogue with the Palestinians, according to Haaretz.
On Iraq, Sharon said that Israeli will not make surprise moves, said The Jerusalem Post.
"We will not surprise each other," Sharon told Israeli journalists. "I said that I will not surprise them, and they will not surprise us."
Sharon's comments came when asked whether Bush had discussed with him the US policy toward Iraq – Albawaba.com
© 2001 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
