CAMP DAVID, Md. (AP) — Rebuffing calls from Arab leaders, U.S. President George W. Bush said Saturday he is not prepared to offer a political timetable for the creation of a Palestinian state.
"We're not ready to lay down any specific calendar, except to say that we have to get started quickly — soon — so we can seize the moment," Bush said at the conclusion of weekend talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Despite Bush's frustration with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Mubarak said: "We should give this man a chance."
With an exasperated edge to his voice, Bush said he was disappointed in Arafat's leadership and called once more on Arafat to "do everything in his power to stop the violence, to stop the attacks on Israel — I mean everything."
Bush welcomed Mubarak to the mountain presidential retreat, calling it "a place where we like to welcome our friends." The two had dinner Friday at Camp David and held talks Saturday morning. Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell also attended the meeting.
Meeting reporters afterward, Bush gave just a brief statement. Mubarak, speaking in Arabic, delivered a lengthy assessment of the crisis in which he accused Israel of "assassinations" and ``illegal confiscations."
Mubarak came to the talks hoping Bush would set a deadline for Palestinian statehood and ease his criticism of Arafat.
Bush disappointed him on both points.
"Chairman Arafat, as far as I am concerned, is not the issue," Bush said. "I have constantly said I am disappointed in his leadership. I think he has let the Palestinian people down. Therefore, my focus is on the reforms necessary to help the Palestinians."
The president was vague about any deadline.
"Here's the timetable I have in mind," Bush said. "We need to start immediately in building the institutions necessary for the emergence of a Palestinian state which, on the one hand, will give hope to the Palestinian people and, on the other hand, say to the world, including the neighbourhood, that there is a chance to live in peace, to defeat terror."
Mubarak countered that violence would not end unless "the people feel there is hope for peace."
Switching to English, Mubarak appealed on Arafat's behalf: "We should give this man a chance. We are working very hard with co-operation with the United States for the reform in the Palestinian Authority. Such a chance would prove that he is going to deliver or not. 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."
Bush, taking pains to find common ground with Mubarak, noted that the Egyptian president did not commit to dealing with Arafat, but asked that the Palestinian leader be given a chance to deliver.
In sharply contrasting harsh tones, Mubarak laid down a list of demands on Israel:
"Israel must end the siege imposed on the Palestinian people and withdraw its forces to positions occupied on Sept. 28, 2000, and halt assassinations and repeated incursions in the territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority and immediately halt all settlement activities in the occupied territories, including the illegal confiscation of land and the expansion of settlements under the pretext of natural growth or any other consideration."
Bush had invited Mubarak to the secluded, wooded retreat hoping he would play an instrumental role in leading Palestinians to the peace table, much like his predecessor, Anwar Sadat, did in forging the first peace accord between Israel and an Arab state. Islamic radicals assassinated Sadat after he signed that 1979 Egypt-Israeli treaty.
Mubarak thanked Bush, who refused to get involved in the conflict before this year, for stepping in to try to mediate the crisis.
"Your personal role, Mr. President, and the role of the United States today remain as important as was America's contribution to us reaching the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel more than two decades ago," Mubarak said.
Bush meets Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the White House on Monday. The president hopes to assemble a peace plan — concrete suggestions for Israel-Palestinian negotiations — for unveiling in a national address before a Mideast peace conference in Turkey this summer.
Bush's diplomatic offensive was complicated this week after an explosion killed 17 Israelis. Sharon's government responded by dispatching troops to Arafat's compound in Ramallah and to the West Bank town of Jenin, the hometown of the 18-year-old Islamic extremist who detonated the explosion.
"We're not ready to lay down any specific calendar, except to say that we have to get started quickly — soon — so we can seize the moment," Bush said at the conclusion of weekend talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Despite Bush's frustration with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Mubarak said: "We should give this man a chance."
With an exasperated edge to his voice, Bush said he was disappointed in Arafat's leadership and called once more on Arafat to "do everything in his power to stop the violence, to stop the attacks on Israel — I mean everything."
Bush welcomed Mubarak to the mountain presidential retreat, calling it "a place where we like to welcome our friends." The two had dinner Friday at Camp David and held talks Saturday morning. Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Colin Powell also attended the meeting.
Meeting reporters afterward, Bush gave just a brief statement. Mubarak, speaking in Arabic, delivered a lengthy assessment of the crisis in which he accused Israel of "assassinations" and ``illegal confiscations."
Mubarak came to the talks hoping Bush would set a deadline for Palestinian statehood and ease his criticism of Arafat.
Bush disappointed him on both points.
"Chairman Arafat, as far as I am concerned, is not the issue," Bush said. "I have constantly said I am disappointed in his leadership. I think he has let the Palestinian people down. Therefore, my focus is on the reforms necessary to help the Palestinians."
The president was vague about any deadline.
"Here's the timetable I have in mind," Bush said. "We need to start immediately in building the institutions necessary for the emergence of a Palestinian state which, on the one hand, will give hope to the Palestinian people and, on the other hand, say to the world, including the neighbourhood, that there is a chance to live in peace, to defeat terror."
Mubarak countered that violence would not end unless "the people feel there is hope for peace."
Switching to English, Mubarak appealed on Arafat's behalf: "We should give this man a chance. We are working very hard with co-operation with the United States for the reform in the Palestinian Authority. Such a chance would prove that he is going to deliver or not. 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."
Bush, taking pains to find common ground with Mubarak, noted that the Egyptian president did not commit to dealing with Arafat, but asked that the Palestinian leader be given a chance to deliver.
In sharply contrasting harsh tones, Mubarak laid down a list of demands on Israel:
"Israel must end the siege imposed on the Palestinian people and withdraw its forces to positions occupied on Sept. 28, 2000, and halt assassinations and repeated incursions in the territories under the control of the Palestinian Authority and immediately halt all settlement activities in the occupied territories, including the illegal confiscation of land and the expansion of settlements under the pretext of natural growth or any other consideration."
Bush had invited Mubarak to the secluded, wooded retreat hoping he would play an instrumental role in leading Palestinians to the peace table, much like his predecessor, Anwar Sadat, did in forging the first peace accord between Israel and an Arab state. Islamic radicals assassinated Sadat after he signed that 1979 Egypt-Israeli treaty.
Mubarak thanked Bush, who refused to get involved in the conflict before this year, for stepping in to try to mediate the crisis.
"Your personal role, Mr. President, and the role of the United States today remain as important as was America's contribution to us reaching the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel more than two decades ago," Mubarak said.
Bush meets Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at the White House on Monday. The president hopes to assemble a peace plan — concrete suggestions for Israel-Palestinian negotiations — for unveiling in a national address before a Mideast peace conference in Turkey this summer.
Bush's diplomatic offensive was complicated this week after an explosion killed 17 Israelis. Sharon's government responded by dispatching troops to Arafat's compound in Ramallah and to the West Bank town of Jenin, the hometown of the 18-year-old Islamic extremist who detonated the explosion.
