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Bush to give a push to peace process

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

Washington May 29. With a view to giving a push to the West Asia peace process especially to the recently unveiled "road map'', the U.S. President, George W Bush, plans to hold his first meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, first on a one-on-one session and later, perhaps, in a three way session. But the White House is not really playing up the three way session with the National Security Advisor, Condoleezza Rice, saying that the President will sit down with both leaders to discuss the new peace plan if "conditions permit''.

The top administration official did not elaborate in any great detail on the `conditions' excepting to say, "We're watching the circumstances. We're watching to see if the parties are moving forward''. "The President is simply saying that he will assess, but he fully believes that he's going to be able to go forward'', Dr. Rice remarked. The summit meeting between Mr. Bush and the Israeli and Palestinian Prime Ministers, Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas, has been set for June 4 in the Jordanian Port City of Aqaba.

Prior to this summit, Mr. Bush is due to meet other Arab leaders including the Egyptian President, the King of Jordan and the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia at Sharm el Sheikh resort in Egypt. The Aqaba meeting will not include the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, who has been kept at a distance by this Republican administration. An unnamed administration official has been quoted as saying that now that Mr. Arafat is not in the picture, the United States has now an

`interlocuter' in Mr. Abbas who is serious about achieving peace and fighting terror. If until the last minute of the Aqaba Summit the White House is being careful about the three way session materialising, it is on account of the uncertainties that have dogged the West Asia peace process all these years. "It's full speed ahead unless something takes it off rail. The problem in the Middle East is, hopeful moments can get derailed'', the White House Spokesman, Ari Fleischer, said.

Officials are saying that Mr. Bush has decided to get involved in the peace process for a number of reasons, only one of which being that Mr. Arafat is no longer in the scheme of things. The more important aspect has been that even at the height of the crisis in Iraq there had been the feeling in the allies' camp that Washington should devote attention to the real problem in West Asia. "This is a new opportunity for peace at the end of the war in Iraq and particularly with the changes in the Palestinian leadership'', remarked Dr. Rice at a briefing yesterday. In fact what is being pointed out here is that Mr. Arafat has not only been sidelined at the Aqaba Summit but also in the meeting of Mr. Bush with major Arab leaders.

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