International

Sharon cuts short U.S. strip

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington MAY 8. The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, has vowed to continue his fight against terror and said there was "no way to move forward on a political process with a terrorist, corrupt...entity".

Mr. Sharon cut short his visit to the United States and returned home after receiving news of the suicide bomb blast near Tel Aviv that killed 16 persons. The Prime Minister was at the end of a 70-minute meeting with the U.S. President, George Bush, when the news reached them. The Israeli leader, who also met the Vice-President, Dick Cheney and Congressional leaders, minced no words describing what he felt about the attack. "Those who launch terrorism are guilty," he said. The Prime Minister left for Israel without visiting New York to consult with his coalition partners on the Israeli response. Mr. Sharon said he had not spoken to Mr. Bush on what Israel's response might be.

The President "was able to personally convey his condolences to the Prime Minister and ...register his disgust with this wanton waste of life," the National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, said. Apparently, halfway through the Bush-Sharon meeting, Dr. Rice was told about the suicide blast. The President had announced on Tuesday that he was sending the director of the Central Intelligence Agency, George Tenet, to the region to work on security mechanisms. But a senior official said Mr. Tenet's trip will come about "in time" and that the administration has to "sort out what has happened".

Mr. Bush reiterated his appeal to the Palestinian Authority and moderate Arab leaders to join the efforts to fight terrorist attacks against the Jewish State. The President yet again expressed his disappointment in the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat. " I think he has let the Palestinian people down. I think he's had an opportunity to lead to peace and he hasn't done so," Mr. Bush said.

At the meeting with Mr. Sharon, the President reaffirmed his support for a Palestinian State saying that Palestine was a reality. Mr. Sharon apparently shrugged off the statehood idea as "premature". Though the U.S. has pressured Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories, the President said, "I'm never going to tell my friend, the Prime Minister, what to do, on how to handle his business. That's his choice to make. He is a democratically elected official."

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