WASHINGTON - President George W. Bush has made his strongest appeal yet for an end to the "tragic cycle" of Middle East violence, condemning an incident in which a Palestinian drove a bus into a crowd of Israelis.
His statement came amid US calls to Israel and the Palestinians yesterday to step back from a vicious circle of retaliation and to restore the right climate for peace talks to resume.
The State Department said the Palestinian Authority should, among other steps, arrest Palestinians suspected of attacking Israelis, while the Israeli Government should stop "targeted killings" of Palestinian leaders.
Bush said he called Israeli caretaker Prime Minister Ehud Barak to express his condolences over those killed in an attack near Tel Aviv when a Palestinian bus driver slammed into a crowd at a bus stop, killing eight people and wounding at least 17 others.
"I strongly condemn the terrible act of violence in Israel this morning," Bush told reporters at the White House.
"The tragic cycle of violent action and reaction between Israel and the Palestinians, particularly the escalation this week, needs to stop," said Bush in his first formal statement on the Middle East since taking office last month.
Secretary of State Colin Powell called Palestinian President Yasser Arafat with a similar message.
"[Powell's] phone call was to talk about the violence and how to end it. Arafat said he condemned the bus attack ... and they talked about the steps to be taken," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.
Powell, in New York for talks with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, said the crucial period while Prime Minister-designate Ariel Sharon was trying to form a government was "a time for restraint, a time for patience, a time for everybody to control their passions."
"And so we are encouraging all sides ... and all those nations that can help with the economic problems that the Palestinians are facing, to do everything that they can now for restraint, security and giving a sense of hope to the Palestinian people by providing economic assistance," he said.
Powell earlier had talks with three political colleagues of Sharon, who said they and Powell agreed that an end to violence was a prerequisite for successful peace talks.
"We sensed that we had in the room a common language with ... Powell and certain common understandings," said former Israeli UN ambassador Dore Gold.
The violence has gradually worsened since Sharon won the elections by a landslide. Almost 400 people have been killed in a nearly five-month-old Palestinian uprising for independence.
Sharon, a 72-year-old former general mistrusted by Arabs for his role in the 1982 invasion of Lebanon, won votes on promises to renew peace talks only when violence ended.
Asked for specifics of steps the two sides could take, Boucher said: "We look to the Palestinians to arrest those suspected of terrorist attacks. On the Israeli side we oppose the targeted killings."
- REUTERS
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