Bush urges Israel to stop incursions

11.30am

WASHINGTON - United States president George W Bush has launched a dramatic change of course on the Middle East, urging Israel to withdraw from Palestinian areas and ordering Secretary of State Colin Powell to the region to revive cease-fire talks.

Bush, criticised for not doing enough to halt the spiral of violence, signalled intensified US involvement in a hastily arranged speech in which he shifted from largely pressuring Palestinian President Yasser Arafat to stop suicide bombings in Israel to saying that Israel itself must take steps to reduce the atmosphere of violence.

"The storms of violence cannot go on," Bush said in a surprise appearance in the White House Rose Garden with Powell at his side.

"Enough is enough. ...When an 18-year-old Palestinian girl is induced to blow herself up and in the process kills a 17-year-old Israeli girl, the future itself is dying -- the future of the Palestinian people and the future of the Israeli people," Bush said.

His speech was welcomed by European leaders, US lawmakers and analysts who had argued that the US president's seeming detachment and his use of a lower-level envoy, Anthony Zinni, was insufficient to stop the clashes.

"It is an important step, a sign the administration recognises that the violence is getting out of hand and that, left to their own devices, the two sides may not be able to pull themselves out of the cycle they've got ... into," said analyst Kenneth Pollack of the Council on Foreign Relations.

While Bush repeated his view that Israel had a right to defend itself, he added: "Yet, to lay the foundations of future peace, I ask Israel to halt incursions into Palestinian-controlled areas, and begin the withdrawal from those cities it has recently occupied."

Bush did not give a timetable, but senior US officials said the United States would like to see the current incursion, which has included the siege of Arafat's Ramallah headquarters, end as soon as possible.

A senior Bush administration official who asked to remain unidentified said the president spoke out now on the need for Israel to halt incursions due to fears that the conflict could spread beyond Israel and the occupied territories.

"We are not telling Israel not to take acts of self-defence ... What we are saying is that this current operation that is under way runs the risk of widening this conflict and hurting their future security in ways that are of great concern to us and affecting our interests, as well," the official said.

US officials declined to say what US interests might be jeopardised, but these may include any US plans to widen the war on terrorism to include Iraq -- something other Arab nations have balked at as the Middle East violence has raged.

In his speech, Bush had nothing good to say about Arafat.

"The situation in which he finds himself today is largely of his own making. He has missed his opportunities and thereby betrayed the hopes of his people," he said.

"Given his failure, the Israeli government feels it must strike at the terrorist networks that are killing its citizens."

Bush called on Israel to be compassionate at checkpoints and border crossings, "sparing innocent Palestinians daily humiliation" and said "Israel should take immediate action to ease closures and allow peaceful people to go back to work."

He expressed concern about the plight of the Palestinians in broader terms than he has in recent weeks, saying Israel should show respect for and concern about the dignity of the Palestinian people "who are, and will be, their neighbours."

As he has for weeks, Bush called on the Palestinians to stop suicide bombings, saying "suicide bombing missions could well blow up the best and only hope for a Palestinian state".

Powell, who aides said spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Thursday and hoped to talk to Arafat, is expected to visit the region next week.

Details of Powell's itinerary were unclear, but a senior US official said he was expected to meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Saudi Crown Prince King Abdullah and Jordan's King Abdullah, all of whom he spoke with on Thursday.

Officials said he hoped to meet in Madrid with European Union officials, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov.

In a sign US patience with Arafat was wearing thinner and thinner, a senior US official said Bush's words sent "a clear message that Chairman Arafat has not done what ... we believe he had the capacity to do and may still have the capacity to do."

Sensitive to criticism that Washington has been disengaged on the Middle East, US officials said there was no way the United States would step aside from a peace-making role and rejected a suggestion from European Commission President Romano Prodi that it do so.

"There is no one else who can provide or perform the leadership role the way the United States can. And I think the EU and our other friends understand that," said a senior US official who asked not to be named.

Bush's speech seemed designed to end conflicting signals on US policy. In the past week, Bush and the White House have expressed understanding at Israel's crackdown and criticised Arafat, while the State Department has urged Israel to show restraint.

Bush made his speech after consulting by telephone with British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who he will meet in Texas this weekend, and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, whose country holds the EU rotating presidency.

Bush said that consistent with the peace framework drawn up by former US Senator George Mitchell a year ago, Israeli "settlement activity" in occupied territories "must stop."

"And the occupation must end through withdrawal to secure and recognised boundaries, consistent with United Nations resolutions 242 and 338," Bush said. "Ultimately, this approach should be the basis for agreements between Israel and Syria, and Israel and Lebanon as well."

- REUTERS

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