June 24, 2005

PRINCE ABDULLAH IBN ABDUL AZIZ RECEIVES A TELEPHONE CALL FROM MAHMOUD ABBAS DURING WHICH THEY DISCUSS THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS. THE MEETING BETWEEN THE PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT AND SHARON WAS NOT UP TO EXPECTATIONS. RICE CALLS ON THE PALESTINIANS TO FILL THE SECURITY GAP AFTER THE ISRAELI WITHDRAWAL. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, received a telephone call from the President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas. During the conversation, they discussed bilateral relations between the two countries, notably the Palestinian issue. On his part, Abbas appreciated the support the Palestinian people and cause receive from the Kingdom's leadership, government and people. Israeli and Palestinian leaders failed to resolve "all the basic issues" facing them at their first summit since a February cease-fire was declared, the Palestinian prime minister said. The summit between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was "difficult" and "did not live up to our expectations," Ahmed Qorei told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Sharon and Abbas met for more than two hours at the Israeli leader's residence in Jerusalem in a summit that was clouded by Israel's arrest of 52 Islamic Jihad activists and a missile strike in the Gaza Strip. "In all the basic issues for which we were expecting positive responses, there were none," Qorei said. Abbas had been scheduled to speak to reporters after the summit, but sent Qorei instead an apparent sign of Palestinian disappointment over the results. Nonetheless, Israeli officials said Sharon told Abbas that Israel would hand over two more West Bank towns and consider releasing more prisoners if the Palestinians take step to end violence. "When we were in Sharm El-Sheikh you said that you would exert all efforts to stop the terror and begin to remove the infrastructure of terror, but the action never happened," Sharon told Abbas during the summit, according to video footage of the meeting released by the Israeli government. Abbas and Sharon last met on Feb. 8 in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, where they declared an end to four and half years of bloodshed. The meeting was meant to step up coordination of Israel's planned Gaza withdrawal, which is scheduled to begin in less than two months. Sharon said in a speech after the summit that he and Abbas "agreed during the meeting on full coordination of our exit from Gaza." "There will be no pullout under fire. We will not stop the pullout. We will stop the terrorism," he said. When asked about the summit, Mohammed Dahlan, the Palestinian minister in charge of coordinating Israel's Gaza withdrawal, said: "There was nothing, nothing" Israel Radio reported that Sharon gave Abbas permission to begin preparations for reopening the Gaza Strip's airport and harbor. The opening of the ports is seen as key to reducing Gaza's isolation once Israel pulls out of the coastal strip this summer. Abbas told Sharon that the Palestinian Authority is organizing a force of 5,000 men to ensure calm during the pullout, said Israeli officials who participated in the meeting. Sharon adviser Ranaan Gissin said the prime minister told Abbas that Israel would hand over the West Bank towns of Qalqilya and Bethlehem to Palestinian control in two weeks, if the Palestinians take steps to stop attacks. Israel was to hand over five towns as part of the truce, but it stopped the process after the first two, charging that the Palestinians had not disarmed fighters in the towns under their control. In the hours before the meeting, Israeli forces swept through the West Bank, arresting 52 suspected Islamic Jihad activists, its first big crackdown since a February cease-fire, abandoning a policy of restraint. As the summit opened, an Israeli aircraft fired two missiles at an abandoned structure in the northern Gaza Strip, said Palestinian Interior Ministry spokesman Tawfiq Abu Khoussa. Army Radio said it was a failed attempt to kill an Islamic Jihad militant meaning resumption of targeted killings suspended with the truce. The unprecedented summit between the Palestinian and Israeli leaders broke up in Jerusalem amid bitter arguments and recriminations over continuing violence, yielding few tangible results. Palestinian officials at the meeting said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon began the two-hour summit with a humiliating 20-minute lecture to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas about his failure to halt militant attacks. An angry Abbas responded by saying he had done everything possible to bring calm to the region and rejected demands to disarm militant factions. Although officials said agreement had been reached in principle on a number of issues, Sharon linked any progress to the Palestinians ability to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure of factions such as Islamic Jihad. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei, who also attended the talks at Sharon's west Jerusalem residence, told a post-summit news conference that none of the issues improved or progressed up to the levels of our people s expectations. Overall what was presented to us was not convincing or satisfying at all, Qorei added. Abbas had been expected to address the news conference, and his absence underlined the impression of failure. Another Palestinian official said Sharon began the summit with a 20-minute lecture that Palestinian efforts in the fight against terrorism were not enough . Abbas said he had done everything to shore up the truce and had no mandate from the people to disarm armed Palestinian groups. The sour atmosphere at the summit the first time that top-level leaders from the two sides had met in the holy city was in stark contrast to the last meeting, when both men declared an end to hostilities. During the Joint Press Conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Condoleezza Rice said President Bush asked me to come here in the wake of the President's very good visit to Washington to follow up with the parties about plans leading to the disengagement of Israeli forces and settlers from the Gaza that will take place shortly. We must all focus on the disengagement as our best chance to reenergize the roadmap. I have met with Jim Wolfensohn, the Quartet's special envoy with regard to disengagement and with General Kip Ward, who is here with me, the U.S. Security Coordinator. Mr. Wolfensohn is focusing on pushing Palestinian-Israeli coordination on economic issues and on reviving the Palestinian economy, while General Ward is working on Palestinian security reform. Our diplomatic representatives in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, along with your government, Mr. President, will continue to be devoted to these tasks. The United States will stand with President Abbas and the Palestinian people as they combat corruption, reform the security services and the justice system, and revive the economy. President Abbas has taken some concrete steps toward security reform but, of course, much more needs to be done, particularly to use actively the security forces to combat lawlessness and to combat terrorism. We applaud President Abbas's commitment to Palestinian political reform and to a democratic Palestinian society. I will go from here to begin to meet with Prime Minister Sharon and his team, and then I will travel to key Arab states to enlist their support for this process. My trip concludes, as some of you know, in London where the G8 Foreign Ministers will be meeting and where we will discuss broader international support for Gaza disengagement. Mr. President, we will work with the international community to support you and the Palestinian people in these efforts. The U.S. is proud to be the single largest contributor of assistance to the Palestinian people. The U.S. is committed to working for a better future for the Palestinian people and to bringing a lasting peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, so that we may all realize the vision of two states living side by side in peace and in security. Thank you. Answering questions Condoleeza Rice said there are a number of issues, and perhaps the President would like to speak to this, too. There are a number of issues that need to be coordinated and fully understood between the parties concerning freedom of movement, concerning access, considering -- concerning access between the different parts of the Territories, the disposition of assets, exactly how the various security functions will be performed. These are all issues that will need to be resolved before the disengagement begins. That is one reason I am here, is to encourage the parties to actively now, concretely solve these problems. There is no more time to simply put problems on the agenda. This now has to be an active process of resolving these. I know that Minister Dahlan and Defense Minister Mofaz have met and will meet again. I know that Mr. Wolfensohn is working with parties on these issues. And so, yes, they are very important and they must be resolved. QUESTION: Madame Secretary, did you get the assurances that you were looking for that the Palestinians can really do what you think is necessary to maintain security, both at the beginning of the Gaza withdrawal and afterwards? And, to the President, what did you discuss about the stockpiling of Hamas arms? The Bush Administration has said in recent days it is very concerned about that. Did you make any assurances that you will do something about it? SECRETARY RICE: On the first point, I did have an extensive discussion with the President, with the Prime Minister and the Cabinet and then with the Minister of Interior about the importance of both planning and executing security functions in support of a peaceful withdrawal of the Israelis from the Gaza. There is still a lot of work to be done. And Minister Yusif, who is in charge of the security effort, will have the full help and cooperation of General Ward and an international team that is working with General Ward. He also will have, I'm certain -- and I will talk with Defense Minister Mofaz of Israel about this -- the cooperation and support of the Israelis in making sure that security is there so that the withdrawal is peaceful. Both parties will have to do their parts if this is indeed to be a peaceful and orderly withdrawal from the Gaza. And so this coordination function is absolutely critical. And I talked extensively with the Palestinians today about the need for coordination. I will talk extensively with the Israelis about it, and then General Ward and Mr. Wolfensohn will follow up. QUESTION: Madame Secretary, first, Hamas is intending to go to the Parliament elections. What would be the response of the American administration if Hamas won some possible in this Parliament? How would you deal with Hamas as part of the government? Would you deal with them as a partner or not? SECRETARY RICE: The United States' position about Hamas has not changed. You know that we list -- continue to view Hamas as a terrorist organization. This is going to be a Palestinian process. But I will say one thing about how the presidential elections went. And that is that the man who said that he was for peace between Israel and the Palestinian people, that he could imagine a future for the Palestinian people where they lived in a state side by side with Israel based on a process that went along the roadmap to the establishment of a Palestinian state, that he could imagine a world in which Palestinian children could grow up without fear, that that is the platform that the Palestinian people chose in the presidential elections. Because I think that is the platform that the Palestinian people -- that expresses the hopes of all people around the world. I frankly don't think that it is the dream of mothers and fathers around the world that their children will be suicide bombers. I don't think it is the dream of people around the world that their children will have no future but one of violence. And so this is a man of peace, his government is a government that is seeking peace. And it is the goal and the policy of the United States government to support a Palestinian leadership that is, we believe, determined to come to a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. QUESTION: Madame Secretary, when you answered the question about Hamas, you referred only to presidential elections. Hamas has done well in municipal elections and that has prompted your partners such as Britain and to some extent the European Union to have contacts on the ground level at a local level. Now, your fear and part of your visit is all about what's happening on the ground, coordinating the very -- the specifics. Why doesn't the United States get on the same page as its partners and have some contacts with Hamas? SECRETARY RICE: Because there's an elected President and a government with which we are dealing. We are the government of the United States, this is the government of the Palestinian people. They elected this president and he is fully capable, I believe, of representing the people who elected him, I believe by almost 60 or so percent. So that's who we'll deal with. QUESTION: Thank you. Madame Secretary, can you categorically or do you categorically deny any contacts with Hamas at any level on your part? And also what's your view of what's the EU-Hamas contacts? And what do you think of the Israeli demands that Hamas be banned from elections, Palestinian elections? And can that be compatible with your effort to establish democracy in the region? Thank you. SECRETARY RICE: The Palestinian people will conduct their elections as they see fit, in accordance with their laws. The United States has no contacts with Hamas because the United States believes that Hamas is a terrorist organization. We have no contacts with Hamas. Our goal is to work with the duly elected President of the Palestinian Authority which represents now the Palestinian people who freely elected him, first to try to bring about a peaceful disengagement of Israelis from the Gaza so that we believe the two sides can gain trust and confidence which would then lead to stronger Palestinian institutions in place, security forces, economic institutions, political institutions, would have the international community's support, a hopeful economic future for the people of the Gaza and the North and West Bank, that would then use that process as a way to stimulate faster movement on the roadmap so that we can all get to the day that we all look to, which is two states living side by side, Israel and Palestine. Now, that is a vision that this government shares with the President of the United States. It is a vision that recognizes the right of Palestinians to live in peace and security, and of Israelis to live in peace and security. That's what we are going to work very hard on and, I think, with good will on both sides and with the strong support of the international community, that we can succeed. QUESTION: Thank you very much, Madame Secretary. I wanted to ask about the continued construction which was mentioned by the President, efforts to enclose the Shuafat Refugee Camp in Jerusalem, continuation of building a wall around Jerusalem. How concerned are you about this continued construction? And is there any possibility of some back-channel dialogue, some beginning of discussion on final status issues to allay Palestinian concerns that Gaza may have disengagement but Israel will continue to take other parts of the territory? Thank you. SECRETARY RICE: Thank you. I think the President spoke to this and spoke quite directly and with determination about this, that the United States has told both sides, in this case the Israelis, that they should take no actions that try somehow to predetermine or prejudge the outcome of final status, because these are issues -- issues of territorial borders as we try and build a contiguous and viable Palestinian state -- these are issues that are going to have to be resolved at the time of final status between the two parties, mutually agreed. So the President has spoken on that issue and we continue to speak to the Israelis about precisely that issue. I believe that one of the problems that we've had over the last many, many years when we've had lots of peace plans and lots of envoys but we frankly haven't been able to achieve very much progress is that there is sometimes too much of a tendency to look out into the future and not enough of a tendency to look at exactly what's in progress and what can be achieved right in front of us. What I've been very heartened by today and appreciate very much is the degree to which the President, in particular, but also many of his ministers are focused on making sure that this Gaza disengagement works. Because we've said many times that this is not Gaza only; this is the first step on a process that is outlined. The roadmap says how we get to final status, it says how we get to a Palestinian state. And so I am confident that if we concentrate on what is in front of us and do that well, that then we're going to be in a position to make much greater progress. If we don't concentrate and do this well, then we're going to be thrown back. And so I really do think that the best task ahead of us, the best course ahead of us is to make sure that the Gaza withdrawal is successful. That means peaceful, that means orderly. It means the Palestinians are in position with stronger institutions to take over and govern. It means that the international community is mobilized to make the lives of the Palestinian people much better as a result, and that we can then use the trust and confidence that the two sides will gain in each other to accelerate further progress. During a joint press appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon prior to their meeting June 19 Rice said "A successful disengagement will enhance the security of Israel, and it should give a sense of confidence and trust between the Israelis and Palestinians as they look to a better future." The United States will support Israel as it implements plans for disengagement from Gaza and parts of the West Bank, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says. Rice was currently visiting Israel and the Palestinian Territories to discuss the coordination of efforts leading up to Israel's planned evacuation of 21 settlements in Gaza and four settlements in the West Bank in August. Rice also is scheduled to travel to Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia to discuss democratic reform, then to Brussels, Belgium, to participate in an international conference on Iraq June 21-22. In Jordan U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said June 19 following a meeting in Amman, Jordan, with Jordanian Foreign Minister Farouq Qasrawi."is a good friend and a strategic partner in a shared vision of peace and stability and, increasingly, a shared vision of reform in this region." In a press briefing with Qasrawi, Rice lauded the announcement in January by King Abdullah of the formation of several developmental regions with directly elected councils. "These and other measures, including the development of a 10-year national agenda, will ensure broad political participation and strengthen grassroots democracy here in Jordan," the secretary said. Rice was in Jordan following meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials on the plan for Israeli withdrawal from 21 settlements in Gaza and four settlements in the West Bank in August. Jordan's education initiative could serve as a model for the region, Rice said. She also said the United States wants to be a partner with Jordan in economic reforms. Rice pointed out that the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed in 2000 -- the third such agreement and the first with an Arab state -- has benefited both nations. "From 2000 to 2004, Jordanian exports to the U.S. grew from $63 million to $1.1 billion," Rice said. "I think this shows that the FTA has been a success for Jordan and for the United States, and the FTA has helped to diversify Jordan's economy along with the qualified industrial zones and has led to the creation of thousands of jobs." Rice mentioned a letter from President Bush to King Abdullah in which the president said Jordan has many important interests at stake in the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and the emergence of a free Iraq. The secretary also said the United States would oppose any developments in the region that might endanger Jordan's interests. Qasrawi said the Israeli withdrawal should be coordinated with the Palestinian Authority and "should also be a part of a larger political process, which is the process of the roadmap." The roadmap, released in April 2003, is a plan for a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Qasrawi said Jordan supports the current political process in Iraq "and is keen to have the strongest possible relations with Iraq. We hope that the drafting of the constitution will proceed successfully and swiftly within an inclusive process that represents all segments of the Iraqi people." The foreign minister also said he reiterated to Rice Jordan's "strong condemnation of terrorism and violence in Iraq, and expressed our hope that the Iraqi people will overcome this violence through their unity and resolve."