An agreement has been reached for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to meet in Washington with US President George W. Bush next month, the White House announced Friday.
Bush and Sharon will discuss "the war on terror and the search for Israeli-Palestinian peace" when they meet April 14 at the White House, said Bush spokesman Scott McClellan.
The long-expected meeting comes two days after Bush is to welcome Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at his Texas ranch. Though McClellan did not provide a date, Bush also will meet with Jordan's King Abdullah next month as part of a series of consultations with key Middle East leaders.
Next week, a trio of US emissaries is expected to make its third trip to the region to talk with Israeli and Palestinian officials on Israel's plan to disengage from the Gaza Strip. Sharon has proposed dismantling nearly all Israeli settlements in Gaza and some in the West Bank.
After some initial hesitation, the administration has warmed to the idea of Israel relinquishing control of Gaza and moving the 7,500 Israeli Jews who live in the predominantly Palestinian area.
But questions remain, including administration concerns about whether such a unilateral move by Israel is consistent with the US-backed "road map" peace plan and whether it enhances -- or disrupts -- the prospects for a negotiated settlement between Israelis and Palestinians. As well, the land Israel may be ready to relinquish in Gaza and on the West Bank is unlikely to meet Arab expectations, which include part of Jerusalem as well as all the territory they lost in war with Israel in 1967.
A team of Bush administration officials, made up of Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, National Security Council Deputy Director Stephen Hadley and the council's Mideast specialist, Elliot Abrams, have traveled to the region twice in recent months.
Auschwitz survivor Eva Schloss, the stepsister of teenage diarist Anne Frank and a tireless educator about the horrors of the Holocaust, has died. She was 96. The Anne Frank Trust UK, of which Schloss was honorary president, said she died on Saturday in London, where she lived. Britain’s King Charles III said he was “privileged and proud” to have known Schloss, who cofounded the charitable trust to help young people challenge prejudice. “The horrors that she endured as a young woman are impossible to comprehend and yet she devoted the rest of her life to overcoming hatred and prejudice, promoting kindness, courage, understanding
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
Cambodia’s government on Wednesday said that it had arrested and extradited to China a tycoon who has been accused of running a huge online scam operation. The Cambodian Ministry of the Interior said that Prince Holding Group chairman Chen Zhi (陳志) and two other Chinese citizens were arrested and extradited on Tuesday at the request of Chinese authorities. Chen formerly had dual nationality, but his Cambodian citizenship was revoked last month, the ministry said. US prosecutors in October last year brought conspiracy charges against Chen, alleging that he had been the mastermind behind a multinational cyberfraud network, used his other businesses to launder
Uncontrolled fires burned through bushland in the Australian state of Victoria yesterday, forcing communities to evacuate and authorities to warn of a “catastrophic” fire danger rating for today. Amid temperatures that exceeded 40°C in parts of the state, two large bushfires were raging near the towns of Longwood and Walwa. The fires had destroyed at least two structures and were expected to continue to spread today as heat and wind pick up, authorities said. The Longwood fire had grown to more than 25,000 hectares in size, while the Walwa fire was 10,000 hectares and has created its own weather system, with a pyrocumulonimbus
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