Bush and Sharon in step on Palestinian reform, out of sync on Arafat

By Steve Weizman

Associated Press

WASHINGTON – Sitting face-to-face with Ariel Sharon, President Bush is stressing “America’s unflagging support for Israel,” the White House said Tuesday – even as Bush urges the Israeli prime minister to set aside his deep mistrust of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Bush also planned to stress to Sharon the importance of addressing “the plight of the Palestinian people,” and repeat that he supports establishment of a Palestinian state, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said.

That state, Fleischer said, “has to be based on transparency, democracy, a market economy, good governance, a lack of corruption – which is a serious concern for the president right now,” Fleischer said.

At the same time, the White House is rejecting Sharon’s contention that Arafat should not be a part of the peace process.

“The president understands that Yasser Arafat is seen by the Palestinian people as their leader,” Fleischer said. “The president thinks Yasser Arafat has not only let him down, he has let down the Palestinian people. And he would like to see more progress by the Palestinian authority.”

During their White House meeting, Bush and Sharon may also debate the role of Saudi Arabia. The Bush administration sees the Saudis as indispensable to reaching a viable Mideast peace deal, while the Israelis say the Saudis are encouraging Palestinian terror attacks.

Tuesday’s meeting could end with an announcement of a major aid program for the Palestinians, but with more work needed to agree on the shape and direction of a proposed Middle East peace conference, Israeli and U.S. officials said.

Fleischer said aid to the Palestinians would have strings attached. “It has to be aid that gets to the Palestinian people and doesn’t get bottlenecked at the top,” he said.

Bush also planned to urge Sharon to help find ways to bolster the Palestinian security apparatus as a way of curbing terrorism so the two sides can get back to political talks, a senior U.S. official said.

After conferring Monday with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Secretary of State Colin Powell said security talks must be resumed once the standoff at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is resolved.

Since Sharon’s plane lifted off from Tel Aviv on Sunday, the Israelis have convened two high-profile news conferences to attack Arafat and the Saudis.

On Sunday, in Jerusalem, Israeli cabinet minister Dani Naveh displayed documents he said proved conclusively that Arafat personally approved payments to militants involved in attacks on Israelis.

The following day, a high-level Israeli team appeared before the media at the Israeli Embassy in Washington and produced a second report, listing what they said were systematic Saudi payments to the surviving relatives of Palestinian suicide bombers and to the radical Islamic Hamas movement.

The Bush administration, which has embraced a Saudi peace “vision,” was not pleased with the Israeli allegations, announced as Prince Saud al-Faisal, the Saudi foreign minister, called on Powell.

“We can’t figure out what they’re up to,” a senior U.S. official said of Israel’s allegation. “We need the Saudis right now. They need the Saudis right now. This doesn’t make sense.”

However, the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the administration takes Israel at its word that they have evidence of Arafat’s complicity with terrorism. “They’re our friends, so we’ll believe them,” the official said.

The Palestinians say the Israeli allegations are based on forgeries.

For months, Israel has given more specific intelligence information on the Palestinian Authority and terror to the Defense Department, the State Department, the CIA and other U.S. agencies.

Although Bush has declared himself “disappointed” with Arafat he says he is still the leader of the Palestinians and must be negotiated with.

When Sharon calls at the White House on Tuesday for his fifth meeting with the president since the two took office, Bush plans to urge him to engage in serious political negotiations with the Palestinians, a senior U.S. official said.

That means Arafat, Fleischer said.

“We’ll always deal with other people,” Fleischer said. “There’s not only one person to deal with, but Chairman Arafat is the representative of the Palestinian people, as they have made clear.”

Sharon, although speaking to a hugely supportive audience at a dinner of the Anti-Defamation League in Washington on Monday night, did not explicitly restate his oft-repeated call for Arafat’s ouster, concentrating rather on the need for the Palestinians to begin “major institutional reforms” and a restructuring of their government.

“A responsible Palestinian Authority that can advance the cause of peace should not be dependent on the will of one man,” Sharon said.