MR. ABBAS COMES TO WASHINGTON

President Bush Welcomes Mahmoud Abbas to the White House
After meeting with Mahmoud Abbas at the White House Thursday, President Bush said: "Israeli withdrawal creates new opportunities, creates responsibilities for the Palestinian people. The way forward must begin by confronting the threat that armed gangs pose to a genuinely democratic Palestine. And those armed gangs must confront the threat that armed gangs pose to lasting peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians."

"In the coming days, I'll be naming our new coordinator to build on the progress General Ward has made. This person will take on an enhanced mission to help President Abbas and the Palestinian Authority carry out their responsibility to end terror attacks, dismantle terrorist infrastructure, maintain law and order, and, one day, provide security for their own state."

"One thing that will not happen is that we will try - the United States will try to conform and force parties to make decisions based upon the political schedule in America. That doesn't make any sense....I'd like to see two states. And if it happens before I get out of office, I'll be there to witness the ceremony. And if it hadn't - if it doesn't, we will work hard to lay that foundation so that the process becomes irreversible." (White House)

See also Bush Backs Away from Timetable for Setting Up Palestinian State - Guy Dinmore
President George W. Bush Thursday backed away from the goal he set a year ago to help establish an independent Palestinian state by the end of his second term. (Financial Times-UK)

See also Palestinian Leader Urged To Confront Militant Groups - Glenn Kessler
President Bush "pressed on security pretty hard," said Edward Abington Jr., a former State Department official who advises the PA. He said Bush urged Abbas to "assert your authority." A senior administration official said the Bush administration believes that allowing armed groups to participate in elections is a "fundamental contradiction" to building a democratic state, but "we are not going to write election laws for the Palestinians." (Washington Post)

Israeli Official Analyses Bush Comments - Joshua Brilliant
Israeli officials maintained there was a basic difference between the demands that U.S. President George W. Bush Thursday presented to the Palestinians and to Israel. A senior official specifically alluded to Bush's statement that, "The way forward must begin by confronting the threat that armed gangs pose." The key word was "begin." The official noted the Palestinians have been pushing for final status negotiations, now, even though the Roadmap envisaged such talks only when the sides reach the third and final phase of that plan; not when they are still in the beginning stage. "The Palestinian commitment to dismantle terror organizations is a condition for advancing the peace process," the source stressed.

On the other hand, Bush's demands of Israel were not conditions for progress, the senior official continued. Israel accepts them but they relate to matters that are "part of the next stages in the roadmap." The roadmap calls for a settlement freeze that should be implemented in Phase 1, but Israel has maintained the sides have not yet reached Phase 1. The Israeli official dismissed the idea that Hamas militants would lay down their arms once they enter the political arena. Speaking after the Bush-Abbas meeting, the Israeli government official said Hamas' participation in the elections is "an internal Palestinian issue. However, terror is not an internal Palestinian issue. It concerns us and therefore we operate against it." (UPI)

U.S. scolds Abbas for Shaath's remarks
A high ranking American government official reproached Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas Thursday, for embarrassing remarks PA Information Minister Nabil Shaath made during a television interview to the BBC, Ynet has learned. In an interview to the British channel several weeks ago, Shaath alluded to a meeting that was held between him, then PA Prime Minister Abbas and American President George W. Bush in June 2003, during which, according to Shaath, the U.S. president declared that his Middle-Eastern policy was motivated by what he called "a mission from God." According to Shaath, Bush said he was instructed by God to launch American invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq. American officials were outraged by Shaath's words, and Bush himself has denied the contents of the interview. Abbas was reproved for the incident shortly before his meeting with Bush in the White House Thursday.

Rice to Abbas: Show leadership
Palestinian Authority should demonstrate leadership, maintain law and order, U.S. secretary of state tells Palestinian leader. Abbas to meet Bush Thursday, warns that undermining PA elections because of Hamas would be ‘blow to democracy’