Arabs hail US support for Palestinian state, Israel fears backfire

Arabs hail US support for Palestinian state, Israel fears backfire

Agencies
JERUSALEM

United States President George W. Bush's endorsement of a
Palestinian state Tuesday was welcomed by Arab countries, while
Israel feared it might be perceived as a success for Osama bin
Laden, the prime suspect in the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

Bush, under fire from Arab states for his hands-off approach
to the year-long Palestinian uprising and under pressure to lure
moderate Arab and Muslim states into a global alliance against
terrorism, said that creating a Palestinian state has "always"
been on the U.S. Middle East agenda.

Bush's endorsement of a Palestinian state was hailed by the
Palestinians.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat welcomed on Wednesday U.S.
President George W. Bush's endorsement of a Palestinian state,
saying Palestinians wanted peace with the Israelis.

The Palestinian news agency WAFA quoted Arafat as saying, "I
thank the United States for its position, which is the
cornerstone for the establishment of a just and lasting peace in
the Middle East."

He added that "the Palestinians remain committed to peace with
the Israelis, which`is a strategic choice for them."

"The idea of a Palestinian state has always been part of a
vision, so long as the right to Israel to exist is respected,"
Bush told reporters in the White House Tuesday.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had said on Sept. 23 that
"Israel wants to give the Palestinians that which nobody has
previously offered them -- not the Turks, nor the English, nor
the Egyptians -- the chance to build their own state."

But his office gave a lukewarm reception to Bush's comments.

Sharon spokesman Zalman Shoval warned that the U.S.
endorsement of a Palestinian state could be perceived as a
success for bin Laden, whom Washington says it can prove was
behind the onslaught which killed thousands in New York and
Washington last month.

He said that since Bush's peace initiative has been partly
prompted by his desire to enlist Muslim and Arab states against
bin Laden, Palestinians could wind up thanking the wanted Islamic
militant and Saudi dissident.

"Quite logically, the Palestinians could say 'Thank you bin
Laden,'" for prompting Bush's backing of an independent state,
Shoval told AFP, voicing fears that the U.S. president's remarks
could therefore "be counter-productive in the long run."

For its part, the Arab League hailed the comments as a "step
in the right direction".

"We welcome those developments, both the support by the United
States of a viable Palestinian state, and the meetings that will
take place between the president (Bush) and President Arafat,"
Arab League chief Amr Mussa told journalists.

Egypt also hailed Bush's comments, saying "this unequivocal
declaration by the United States shows their determination to
pursue active efforts for the implementation of the Mitchell
report and is likely to open the way for final status
negotiations."

Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said he expected the declaration
"to have active effects and Israel to halt its aggression against
the Palestinians and choose the path which leads straight to
peace, justice and security for all peoples in the region."

Expressing a similar view, Jordan welcomed Bush's backing for
a Palestinian state as "a good position and big progress from
America towards the Palestinian cause, and it corresponds with
the discussions King Abdullah II had recently with President
Bush."

Bush also said he stood firmly behind a roadmap to peace
crafted by an international panel headed by former U.S. senator
George Mitchell and said U.S. officials were "working diligently"
to end the year-long intifada.

An anonymous Israeli official had earlier reacted to Bush's
comments by saying that the setting up of a Palestinian state
would "only be possible in the context of a comprehensive
agreement to end the conflict between Israel and the Arab world."

He reiterated the Jewish state's view that the key question
was whether Arafat was ready to put an end to a year of violence
and return to the negotiating table.