The United States has shelved its hope for a
Palestinian state with permanent borders in 2005.
The Bush administration has acknowledged that the international roadmap
plan that called for a sovereign Palestinian state with permanent borders
would not be achieved in 2005. The plan, endorsed by Washington as well as
Russia, European Union and United Nations, envisioned a Palestinian state
with interim borders in mid-2004 as a first step toward full independence.
President George Bush said the timetable of the original roadmap for the
creation of a permanent Palestinian state by 2005 was no longer realistic.
Bush said the timetable had been hampered by the continuing
Israeli-Palestinian war.
"I readily concede the date has slipped some," Bush said in an interview
with the Egyptian semi-official Al Ahram daily. "I think the timetable of
2005 isn't as realistic as it was two years ago. Nevertheless, I do think we
ought to push hard as fast as possible to get a state in place."
It was the first time Bush or any senior administration official
discounted the prospect of a Palestinian state in 2005. Earlier, some
administration officials voiced the possibility of moving directly into
final status negotiations for a Palestinian state over the next 18 months.
Officials said Bush has sought to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace
efforts in wake of the Likud Party rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel
Sharon's unilateral withdrawal plan from the Gaza Strip and parts of the
West Bank. They said U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice would
meet Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei on May 17 in Germany.
Ms. Rice was expected to deliver a letter from Bush to Qurei.
"The president made it very clear yesterday that he wants to work to
expand our dialogue with the Palestinians," White House press secretary
Scott McClellan said. "The Palestinians have a real opportunity before them
to take steps that can help create the institutions necessary for a viable
and democratic Palestinian state to exist."
On May 15, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was scheduled to meet
Jordanian and other leaders at the World Economic Forum in Amman. Powell
also intended to meet Arab foreign ministers regarding plans for an Arab
League summit as part of an effort to improve relations with the Arab world
in wake of the outcry over U.S. military torture of Iraqi prisoners.
"It's a tag team operation and both of our senior people are working
this on behalf of the president," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher
said. "And Dr. Rice reflects in this process the special interest that the
president has, and that's why he designated her as his representative to
help work this."
In the interview, Bush said Egypt has a responsibility for the
restoration of order in the Gaza Strip. He said President Hosni Mubarak has
tried to restore the PA's security services and retrain Palestinian police.
"Egypt has got, in my judgment, an important role to play to help make
sure there is security in Gaza, as the civil structure is put in place and
as the government structure is put in place," Bush said. "President Mubarak
has been a leader on the issue of security."
