Under pressure from Jordan's King Abdullah, US President George W. Bush reached out on Thursday to the Palestinians and distanced himself from earlier assurances to Israel that it could keep some of the Arab land captured in the 1967 Middle East war.
Bush told the king in writing that the US will not prejudice the outcome of final negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.
Bush said he would soon send a separate letter to Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie "that will explain my views, and we will expand dialogue between the United States and Palestinians."
Bush delighted Israelis and enraged Palestinians last month when he gave Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon letters saying Israel could not be expected to give up all its settlements or accept the return of Palestinian refugees.
But with Abdullah at his side, Bush made no mention of those concessions, and said, "All final-status issues must be negotiated between the parties ... And the United States will not prejudice the outcome of those negotiations."
He said such sensitive issues "must be negotiated between the parties in accordance with" UN Security Council resolutions which call on Israel to withdraw from captured lands.
The Jordanian king called for "a viable, sovereign, and independent Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 borders," and said he was "reassured" by Bush, even as US and Israeli officials insisted Bush's position on both settlements and refugees was unchanged.
Hassan Abdel Rahman, the Palestinian representative in Washington, said although Bush's comments were positive, "They did not go far enough."
Bush's assurances to Abdullah and Qurie came amid growing anger in the Arab world at Bush's pro-Israel policies and followed the explosive revelations of US forces abusing and sexually humiliating Iraqi prisoners.
His letters to Sharon were seen by the Palestinians and their supporters in the Arab world as having conceded two central and highly emotive issues that should have been theirs to negotiate with Israel.
In protest, Abdullah abruptly canceled plans to visit Washington last month. The meeting was quickly rescheduled, but Abdullah demanded a letter of his own.
The White House initially balked at Abdullah's request, concerned the written assurances would appear to undermine those to Sharon.
But the White House backed down, providing Abdullah with a two-page letter, while at the same time assuring the Israelis nothing had changed.
"Nothing that happened today contradicts the assurances we were given during the Sharon visit," an Israeli official in Washington said on Thursday.
But Abdel Rahman said the Palestinians were unsure what to make of Bush's latest comments.
"Will it correct the damage that he's done? Is this a retraction for his [previous] statement?" he said.
Bush said Abdullah had recommended that he send a letter to Qurie to "make sure the Palestinians understand my desire for a just peace, my desire for there to be a prosperous country, my desire that the Palestinian people have a chance to realize their hopes and aspirations."
Abdullah told the news conference, "Definitely we are reassured in Jordan and we hope that the president's statements will reassure everybody else in the Middle East."
Bush administration officials had argued that Bush's letter to Sharon was necessary to boost his plan to withdraw from all 21 Jewish settlements in Gaza and four of 120 settlements in the West Bank.
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