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04 October 2001
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Bush endorses Palestinian state
From AP
04oct01
ARAB leaders have hailed US president George W Bush for his endorsement of a Palestinian state, with the king of Morocco calling the remark a milestone in the peace process.
President Bush said yesterday that the idea of a Palestinian state was part of the vision of the Middle East peace process, "so long as the right to an Israeli state is respected".
Morocco's King Mohammed VI, who presides over an Arab committee on Jerusalem, said Bush's position "comforts and mobilises all those who are on the side of reason, justice and respect for the rules of international law".
"This position will serve as a milestone in the evolution of the peace process," the king said in a statement.
Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri said Bush's statement was a "positive step toward a comprehensive and just peace".
"We hope this American stance will be translated into practical steps to move toward ending the historic conflict between Arabs and Israel through a comprehensive American initiative that puts the region for the first time on the road to a final peace," Hariri said in a statement released by his office.
The United States has been the dominant sponsor of the Middle East peace process since the Madrid Conference in 1991. Lebanon regards itself as technically at war with Israel, which ended an 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon in May 2000.
Since it began mobilising world support for retaliation over the September 11 terror attacks, Washington has been trying to calm down the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, fearing it could jeopardise its efforts to bring Arab states into an anti-terrorism coalition.
In Cairo, the secretary general of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, said Bush's statement was a positive development and "maybe a turning point".
"Now we have a land for peace formula plus a Palestinian state," Moussa told reporters, referring to the long-standing principle of Israel exchanging captured territory in return for peace with its Arab neighbours.
But, Moussa warned, Bush's move could not be seen as an enticement for Arab participation in the US offensive against terrorism.
Arab newspapers have suggested that Bush endorsed a Palestinian state to induce Arab states to join the coalition that the United States is building toward strikes on terrorist bases in Afghanistan.
Moussa stressed Arab countries would not take part in a military campaign against terrorists, but would co-operate in other international steps against terrorism.
"If the war against terror is meant to be a diplomatic, judicial and financial war, of course ... This is what Arabs are committed to," Moussa said.
Arab governments have expressed concern that the US-led campaign would broaden to include attacks on Arab states that Washington accuses of backing terrorists, such as Iraq.
Replying to such a question, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told reporters today his government was confident "the United States will not target any Arab country".
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