Bush Urges Arafat to Stop Palestinian Attacks on Israelis
Scott Stearns
White House
30 Mar 2002 20:06 UTC
Listen to Scott Stearns's Report from
the White House (RealAudio)
Stearns Report - Download 339k (RealAudio)
President Bush said
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat must do more to stop attacks
against Israeli civilians. As fighting continues inside
Palestinian-controled territories, Mr. Bush said he understands
Israel's need to defend itself but hopes Israeli leaders continue to
pursue peace.
|
 |
|
President Bush talks to
reporters in Texas, Saturday |
 |
President Bush said Mr. Arafat must do more to prevent attacks
such as Saturday's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. He said he is
disappointed the Palestinian leaders is not making what he calls
"100 percent" effort to fight terrorism.
Speaking to reporters at his Texas ranch, Mr. Bush said Chairman
Arafat has "got to speak up, got to make it absolutely clear" that
the Palestinian Authority does not support terrorist attacks and
will use its security forces to stop them.
|
 |
|
Yasser Arafat talks to
reporters by candlelight from his headquarters, Saturday
|
 |
With Israeli tanks inside Mr. Arafat's compound, President Bush
said he has received assurances from Israel that the Palestinian
leader will not be harmed. Mr. Bush said he respects and "fully
understands" Israel's need to defend itself, but as it does so, he
said he is urging Isreali leaders to make sure there is a path
toward peace.
The president is keeping special envoy Anthony Zinni in the
Middle East to continue to work toward an Israeli/Palestinian
cease-fire. In a series of telephone calls to Arab leaders Saturday,
Mr. Bush said fighting will not stall General Zinni's mission to
pursue peace.
The president said he thanked Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah ben
Abdul Aziz for his speech at last week's Arab League summit in
Beiruit which adopted the Saudi leader's peace plan to exchange Arab
recognition of Israel for Israel giving up land won during the 1967
war.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said he and Mr. Bush agreed on
the need for Israel to withdraw from Palestinian-controlled areas.
He told Egyptian television that he asked the U.S. leader to
intervene with Israel to lift its seige on Mr. Arafat's compound.
Mr. Bush also spoke Saturday with the leaders of Jordan and Spain
as well as U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The U.N. Security
Council passed a resolution calling for an Israeli withdrawal and
for both sides to move immediately toward a cease-fire. The United
States voted for the measure, which passed 14-0 with Syria
abstaining from the vote because it said the language was not strong
enough against Israel.
Israel criticized the document for not coming down harder on
suicide bombings, saying the Security Council has handed a "prize"
to Palestinian terrorists.
The resolution expresses grave concern over the sucide bombings
and the Israeli attack on the Arafat compound. It calls on both
sides to cooperate with General Zinni who is trying to get them to
agree to a security arrangement drawn up by CIA director George
Tenet.
The Bush Administration had been optimistic about those efforts
before a seires of suicide bombings and shooting attacks against
Israelis killed more than 30 people in three days. Israel responded
with a military operation that included attacks on Mr. Arafat's
compound.
|