PM to offer contiguity for interim state

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will announce in his speech today at the close of the Aqaba summit that the interim Palestinian state will have a "contiguous territory," but the Palestinians must declare an end to violence, fight against terrorism and return to the negotiating table.

Sharon will also promise an immediate dismantling of illegal outposts.

Speaking at the end of yesterday's summit with Arab leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh, President George W. Bush said "Israel has a responsibility. Israel must deal with the settlements. Israel must make sure there's a continuous territory that the Palestinians can call home."

Sharon has in the past offered a contiguous territory to the Palestinians with a system of tunnels and bridges to connect the Palestinian enclaves in the West Bank. This option is not acceptable to the U.S. administration, which is in favor of evacuating Jewish settlements to create the territorial continuity for the Palestinians, and this is eluded to in the road map.

Sharon will arrive in the Jordanian town this morning and meet with Bush first for a private conversation, where he will try to ascertain the level of involvement the U.S. administration plans to have in the talks process and how much pressure the Americans intend to put on the sides. Bush will outline the steps Israel is expected to take and will attempt to fathom how flexible are Sharon's boundaries.

Following their meeting, Bush will meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) while Sharon meets with the summit's host, Jordanian King Abdullah. The leaders will convene for a joint meeting in the afternoon, at the end of which closing statements will be made.

Sharon is expected to declare that Israel does not wish to rule over another nation, but security is a prerequisite for peace and the Palestinians must take action against terror for the situation to change. He will also commit Israel to Bush's vision of two states, Israel and Palestine, and the phases set out in the road map.

The prime minister will praise his Palestinian counterpart and talk of the real test they both face - actions. He will again offer that Israel will withdraw from all areas where the Palestinians accept security responsibility and fight terror.

`End to the armed intifada'

Abu Mazen in his speech will declare an end to the armed intifada. The United States was furious that this part of the Palestinian prime minister's speech had been leaked and published by the Israeli media.

Sharon yesterday met with his entourage to the summit, ministers Silvan Shalom, Shaul Mofaz, Ehud Olmert and Yosef (Tommy) Lapid. Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was invited to attend the summit, but declined, also participated in the meeting. There was some argument over whether Israel should demand from the U.S. that Bush refers to Israel as the "Jewish state" in his speech.

Lapid criticized Foreign Minister Shalom, who wanted to insist on Bush's use of the term a "Jewish state" as a means of annuling any right of return for Palestinian refugees to Israel. Lapid said it is a "mistake to demand recognition as a Jewish state. Nobody doubts this and these discussions simply stimulate the question."

Shalom, however, felt differently, saying that, "nobody takes anything for granted. We must stand firm over Israel's vital interests." He said that the French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin asked him last week whether Israel would agree to accept 40,000 Palestinian refugees into its borders as former prime minister Ehud Barak had offered.

Shalom was backed up by Defense Minister Mofaz who said that, "they have to recognize our right to live here as a Jewish state."

The prime minister did not get involved in the discussion, and some of the participants believe he thinks there is little chance of getting Bush to mention the "Jewish state" in his speech, and thus does not want to insist upon it. Sharon himself will talk of Israel as a Jewish state.

n Daniel Sobelman adds from Sharm el-Sheikh:

A number of differences of opinion arose during yesterday's summit in Sharm el-Sheikh between Arab leaders and Bush and the meeting did not end with a joint declaration.

Instead, at the press conference at the end of the meeting, the summit host, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, made a statement speaking for his country, as well as Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain and the Palestinian Authority. This was followed by a statement from Bush.

Among the matters raised by Bush that caused a degree of friction with the Arab leaders was a request that his summit partners, particularly Jordan and Egypt, strive for a normalization of ties with Israel, with Jordan and Egypt reinstating their ambassadors to Tel Aviv.

The Arab leaders assured Bush that they were committed to the Saudi peace initiative, which received the Arab world's backing at last year's Beirut summit, but Israel for its part must express its commitment to Bush's vision of a two-state solution as laid out on June 24, 2002. The Arab leaders also asked Bush to extend the road map to include the Lebanese and Syrian talk tracks. Arab sources said Bush and his secretary of state, Colin Powell, rejected this demand.

Israel's and the Palestinians' commitments to the war on terrorism also created some agitation. Bush stressed that the Palestinian Authority must immediately take steps against terrorism, but the Arab leaders demanded that Israel concurrently take steps to ease the conditions in the territories.

Bush stressed that a "handful of people, a handful of murderers, a handful of terrorists" shouldn't be allowed to destroy the dreams and hopes of many and stall the peace proces. Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah was quoted as telling Bush that Israel should withdraw its forces from the territories to the positions they held before September 28, 2000.

In his statement at the end of the summit, Bush said the discussions at Sharm had taken place at a time when there is a real potential to form an alliance against terrorism, to reach a Middle East peace agreement and establish an independent Palestinian state.

"All progress toward peace requires the rejection of terror," said Bush, adding that his Arab counterparts had expressed their opposition to terror and have "also committed to practical actions: to use all means to cut off assistance, including arms and financing to any terror group, and to aid the Palestinian authorities in their own fight against terror.

"Terror threatens my nation, terror threatens Arab states, terror threatens the State of Israel, terror threatens the emergence of a Palestinian state. Terror must be opposed and it must be defeated," he continued.

On the issue of today's summit in Aqaba, Bush said that if "all sides fulfill their obligations, we can make steady progress on the road toward Palestinian statehood, a secure Israel and a just and comprehensive peace."

The Egyptian president promised continued Arab support for the Palestinian Authority and its new prime minister. "We will ensure that our assistance to the Palestinians goes solely to the Palestinian Authority and we will continue to support efforts to improve the quality of life of the Palestinian people," said Mubarak.

Israel was called on to "fulfill its own responsibilities to rebuild trust and restore normal Palestinian life and to carry out its other obligations under the road map, thus promoting progress toward the president's vision."

	King Abdullah, Prince Abdullah, President Bush, President Mubarak, King al-Khalifa and PMAbbas meeting in Sharm yesterday.
	Photo by: AP