MIDDLE EAST Bush: Don't let terrorism hinder peace

Bush is asking Arab leaders to back peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt (AP) -- President Bush, entering the labyrinth of Mideast peace negotiations, told Arab leaders today that "a few people, a few killers, a few terrorists" cannot be allowed to prevent a settlement between Israelis and Palestinians.
Bush said all sides must assume responsibility toward achieving peace. "I believe now is the time to work together to achieve the vision" of peace, he said.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who hosted the Arab summit: "We convene today to examine the peace process in order to ensure stability in our region."
He welcomed Bush's commitment to Palestinian and Israeli states' existing side by side, each enjoying "peace and security."
Bush looked for a commitment from Arab leaders to end violence and move toward peace with Israel. Such a statement, considered likely, would strengthen Bush's hand in winning corresponding concessions from Israel.
Upcoming meeting
The Arab summit came a day before Bush's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, in Jordan. It marks his first formal entry into Middle East peace negotiations.
The leaders first talked privately, without staff members, before beginning a more formal session. Bush shook hands with the Arab leaders and then joined them at a large octagonal table in front of a stand of flags of participating nations.
"We must not allow a few people, a few killers, a few terrorists, to destroy the dreams and hopes of the many," he said.
At the same time, Bush made clear that both sides, Israeli and Arab, have responsibility for achieving peace.
"Israel must deal with the settlements. Israel must make sure there's a continuous territory that the Palestinians can call home," he said.
"The world needs to have a Palestinian state that is free and at peace, and therefore my government will work with all parties concerned to achieve that vision," Bush said.
Preventing terrorism
He said the Arab leaders must close off sources of funding to terrorists and prevent "the terror from gaining a foothold," as he said they have promised.
"It is in their own self-interests to fight off terror," he said. "It's in their own self-interest to enable a Palestinian state to emerge."
Bush acknowledged that the road ahead would be difficult. "But no matter how difficult it is, you have my commitment that I will expend the energy and effort necessary," he said.
Officials close to the process said the minimum they expect from the Arab leaders in Sharm el-Sheik is an assertion of support for Abbas, not longtime Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat, as the representative of the Palestinians in negotiations with Israel.
Reaffirmation of a two-state solution -- a Palestinian state living without bloodshed alongside Israel -- also was expected.
Likely offer
Diplomatic sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the Arab leaders probably will renew a March 2002 offer of peace and full recognition of Israel should the Jewish state withdraw from Arab lands it seized in the 1967 Six-Day War.
That is further than Israel has said it is willing to go, but it would represent another move by the Arabs toward recognizing Israel's right to exist.
Bush also was expected to press Arab leaders to restore the relations with Israel that existed before the September 2000 outbreak of violence -- especially the return of Egyptian and Jordanian ambassadors to Israel, an Israeli official said.
Arab relations with Israel are addressed in a not-yet-begun phase of an internationally drafted road map to peace. But Israel and the United States would welcome an immediate upgrading of Arab-Israeli relations as a goodwill gesture and a sign that Arab nations are committed to the broader peace process, the official said on condition of anonymity.
Today's meetings represented Bush's first major attempt at personally brokering a Middle East peace. He has thrown his support behind a plan that would lead to creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
In advance of the session, a government-run Syrian newspaper, Al-Thawra, said the United States has failed for the past 12 years to prove that it is a "neutral and honest broker in the peace process."
"It has become difficult to trust or bet on a U.S. role," the newspaper said.
Sharon stunned his countrymen May 26 by proclaiming that Israel's occupation of the West Bank must end. The remark -- which Sharon tempered somewhat today -- indicated a 180-degree turnaround for the hawkish prime minister after decades of warning that withdrawal from any of the West Bank could endanger Israel's existence.
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