Pleasing PLO key to US success in Mideast

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By Jerusalem Newswire Editorial Staff
May 26, 2005

Playing on US President George W. Bush's overwhelming desire to bring stability and democracy to the Middle East, a senior PLO official Thursday said the American could forget about his efforts succeeding if Palestinian Arab demands were not satisfied.

Bush ?can say goodbye to the American agenda in the Middle East: democratization in the region and security in Iraq? if he fails to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, PA Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa said in an interview with Ha'aretz.

Al-Kidwa's boss, PLO chief Mahmoud Abbas, who met with Bush later in the day, has repeatedly stated that the Palestinian Arabs would settle for nothing less than a full Israeli withdrawal to the pre-1967 borders, the release of all jailed terrorists, and the right to flood Israel with millions of so-called ?refugees.?

Chief ?Palestinian? negotiator Saeb Erekat said Abbas planned to raise all these issues with Bush, while urging the president to clarify how he planned to turn his vision of birthing a Palestinian Arab state into reality.

Following their meeting, Bush praised Abbas as a man committed to peace and curbing violence in a joint press conference at the White House.

The president also demanded Israel allow for the creation of a Palestinian Arabs state with contiguity in Judea and Samaria and linkages between those areas and the Gaza Strip.

?A state of scattered territories will not work,? Bush said. ?This is the position of the United States today. It will be the position at the time of final-status negotiations.?

In the meantime, Israel is to avoid ?any activities that contravene Road Map obligations or prejudice final status negotiations with regard to Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem," he said.

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