06/26/01
Bush Tells Sharon He Sees Progress Towards Peace in Middle East
(Sharon: Israel will not negotiate until terror ceases)

By Wendy S. Ross
Washington File White House Correspondent

Washington -- Progress towards peace is being made in the Middle East, even though it's only in inches, President Bush told reporters as he and Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held talks in the White House June 26.

"We're gaining by inches, I recognize. Progress is in inches, not in miles, but nevertheless, an inch is better than nothing. And so therefore this administration is committed to working with the parties."

First and foremost, Bush said, "We urge people in the region to stop the violence." He said he is "optimistic" that the process recommended in the Mitchell Report can then be implemented "at some point in time."

The Mitchell Report was put together by an international committee chaired by former U.S. Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell.

"I am here to tell the Prime Minister, I know there's a level of frustration, but there is progress being made, and for that progress, we are grateful. The Prime Minister has shown a lot of patience" in the midst of casualties, Bush said.

"If I didn't think progress was being made, I would not be sending the Secretary of State (Colin Powell) to the Middle East," Bush said.

"The Secretary of State leaves tonight to try to advance the process, to make peace more real, and he's going to meet not only with the Israelis, he'll be meeting with the Palestinians as well, urging the cycle of violence to be broken," Bush said.

Sharon said he wished Powell success in his upcoming trip.

But Sharon made clear that Israel will only negotiate when there is "a full cessation of hostilities, terror, violence and incitement."

Israel, he said, "will not negotiate under fire and under terror... because if we will do that, we'll never reach peace....

"On the contrary, if we'll be very strict, then the Palestinians will understand they cannot gain anything by terror. Therefore, we have to be very strict in order to reach peace, which all of us would like to have," Israel's Prime Minister said.

He told Bush that the deaths of five Israelis would be comparable to the deaths of 250 to 300 Americans.

Bush said, "Any terror is too much terror. Any death is too much death. We recognize that. And we recognize the pressure that the Prime Minister is under. And we condemn terror. We condemn violence. We condemn death. We also believe progress is being made. Yes, there's violence, and yes, there's terror, but it's being isolated, it's being contained.

"Can the parties do more? Absolutely," he said. "And that's what the Secretary of State is going to do, is to urge (Palestinian Authority Chairman) Mr. Arafat to do more, to take better control of his security forces. We're going to talk to the Prime Minister about his attitudes. We're friends."

Prior to the meeting, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said President Bush "intends, in the meeting in the Oval Office today with Prime Minister Sharon, to discuss with him the importance of preserving the cease-fire and taking the next steps toward the full implementation of the Mitchell agreement, which is to begin a cooling-off period followed by confidence-building measures. And that will be the tenor of the meeting from the President's point of view."

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters: "We're still looking for the parties to take the steps necessary to reduce the violence. We're looking for, as we say, 100 percent effort. That's what called for in the Mitchell committee report. We're still working with the parties on the work plan that was developed, with the help of the director of (U.S.) Central Intelligence," George Tenet. "We're trying to get the parties to continue to take steps to reduce the violence," Boucher said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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