Bush Refuses to Set Mideast Timetable

WASHINGTON -- President Bush on Saturday rejected an appeal from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to set a timetable of two to three years to create a Palestinian state and conclude the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

After talks Friday night and Saturday morning at Camp David, the two leaders were at odds over a goal shared by key Arab allies to set a target date for a final settlement. Giving Palestinians a sense of hope, Mubarak reasons, would undermine extremists who have waged a campaign of terror.

“We’re not ready to lay down a specific calendar, except for the fact that we’ve got to get started quickly, soon, so that we can seize the moment,” Bush said at a joint news conference on a scenic lane in the rural Maryland compound.

In a series of meetings this spring with the leaders of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and now Egypt, the Bush administration has been under growing pressure to provide a framework for peace and a date to end the half-century-old conflict.

The Arab world generally is anxious about an open-ended process that could drag on indefinitely--and in turn fuel rather than defuse Islamic extremism. In contrast, Israel wants a step-by-step approach that doesn’t offer any rewards until certain conditions, particularly security, have been met.

Bush will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday, in one in a series of talks at the White House in advance of a U.S.-orchestrated international Mideast conference, possibly in Turkey this summer.

Mubarak had proposed a deadline for Palestinian statehood in late 2004, after the U.S. presidential election, or early 2005, to conclude the peace process.

After their weekend talks, Mubarak again called for Washington to come up with a vision that would bridge the serious divisions between Israel and the Palestinians.

“We look forward to a strong American engagement in the coming phase to implement this vision,” the Egyptian leader said.

Mubarak also has urged the administration to consider declaring a Palestinian state before any final agreement on key obstacles, such as the status of Jerusalem and the new state’s final borders.

But Bush has repeatedly rebuffed that request. The president said the United States is instead looking at how to go about launching a “political dialogue” that could then pave the way for peace.

Bush and Mubarak also disagreed sharply over Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat. Bush again appeared to reject Egypt’s request that Arafat be given a chance to let his people be the arbiter of his success in reforming the Palestinian Authority.

Mubarak said that Egypt and the Arab world are working very hard to push Arafat to take the critical steps, which include reining in militants, eliminating corruption, introducing greater democracy and accountability, and opening up what often appears to be a one-man decision-making process.

“Such a chance would prove that he is going to deliver or not,” Mubarak told reporters. “If he is going to deliver, I think everybody would support him. If he is not going to deliver, his people will tell him that.”

But Bush countered that Arafat has consistently disappointed the United States and let down his people. “Therefore, my focus is on the reforms necessary to help the Palestinians,” the president said.

Bush said he wants to start immediately building the basic institutions for the eventual emergence of a Palestinian state. That initial step would give hope to Palestinians and signal to the wider Mideast region and the outside world that coexistence and defeating terrorism are possible, he added.

“My view is that if the Palestinian people have a government that is transparent and open and willing to serve the people, Israel will be better off, Egypt will be better off, America will be better off, and we’re more likely to achieve peace,” Bush said.

The president also noted that there is “plenty of talent” elsewhere among the Palestinians--a statement reflecting the growing exasperation that Arafat, after repeated promises, has failed to stop the bloodshed or begin restructuring his government.

After a week that witnessed yet more attacks against Israelis, Bush also bluntly called on Arafat to do everything in his power to stop a wave of suicide bombings. “I mean everything,” he repeated, with clear annoyance in his voice.

Although the United States has worked longer with Egypt than any other Arab country, the wide gap in positions was the strongest undercurrent at this key session.

Mubarak, speaking at length in Arabic, railed against Israel and charged its government with assassination and “illegal confiscation” of territory.

To prove that Israel is a serious partner in peace, Mubarak said, the Sharon government must end its army’s crackdown on Palestinians and pull back Israeli troops to positions occupied in September 2000, when the current intifada against Israeli rule began.

Israel should also end “assassinations and the repeated incursions” into the Palestinian territories and halt all settlement activities there, including the illegal confiscation of land, he said.