Arab foreign ministers will present U.S. President Bush with a detailed plan for establishing a new Palestinian government, with a written constitution, an elected parliament and a prime minister, that could be recognized as a state as early as January 2003, according to Arab sources, The Washington Post reported Thursday.
The plan, adopted at a meeting in Cairo last week, is meant to proceed alongside the Palestinian reforms that Bush has insisted on, but its election component is contingent on Israeli military withdrawal from West Bank areas reoccupied over the past two years. The Arab framework would leave the current Palestinian government, the Palestinian Authority headed by Yasser Arafat, in place until elections are held, according to the U.S. daily.
For his part, Bush expressed optimism Wednesday about progress toward peace in the Middle East, but renewed his demand for new leadership to replace Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat and showed no interest in working with Arafat in a new role.
Bush sidestepped a question about whether he could work with a Palestinian government in which Arafat retained some leadership role. "The issue is much bigger than a person, as far as I'm concerned," Bush said at a news conference with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski. "Mr. Arafat has failed to deliver; I still feel the same way. ... I know the Palestinian people will be better served by new leadership."
According to AP, Bush said it was critical to bring about changes to financial and military institutions that have helped Arafat retain power. "Those institutional changes are essential to the evolution of a state," Bush said, referring to his proposal for a provisional Palestinian country. "I do believe we're making progress to this end."
"Mr. Arafat would like the whole issue to be about him - that's the way it's been in the past," Bush said. "Except when you analyze his record, he has failed the Palestinian people. He just has. That's reality." (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
