US President George W. Bush said Monday he would invite Palestinian president-elect Mahmud Abbas to Washington for talks and linked the success of the Palestinian vote to his hopes for Iraq later this month.
"I offer my congratulations to Abu Mazen. I look forward to talking to him at the appropriate time. I look forward to welcoming him here to Washington if he chooses to come here," Bush told reporters at the White House.
Abbas, who is also known as Abu Mazen, scored a landslide victory in Sunday's election to find a successor to the late Yasser Arafat. Bush had refused all contact with Arafat, accusing him of doing too little to prevent attacks on Israel by radical groups.
"This is a man who has been elected by what appears to be a good-sized vote," said Bush. "I'm heartened by the elections."
Later in the day, Bush telephoned Abbas to congratulate him on his victory and reaffirm his commitment to helping Palestinians create a "free and democratic" state as well as "tackle key issues like security, terrorism, economic growth and building democratic institutions," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.
Abbas visited the White House as the Palestinian prime minister last year. But he stood down a few months later following several disagreements with Arafat.
The US leader backed a conference being organized by Britain on March 1-2 on Palestinian security and political and economic reforms. The conference was "aimed at helping the Palestinians develop the institutions necessary to support Abu Mazen's vision of a peaceful, active, vibrant state to become reality," he said.
Bush also took the opportunity to link the success of Sunday's vote to the Iraqi election on Jan. 30 and said the two events would make 2005 "an extraordinary year."
"In the first month of a new year, there will be an election in the Palestinian territory and there will be an election in Iraq. Who could have possibly envisioned an election in Iraq at this point in history? And yet we're going to have an election.
"And I'm sure there are a lot of people who are incredibly excited about the thought of having an election in Iraq inside the Iraqi territory -- except for a handful who want to stop democracy -- because they understand what election means.
"And so as a democrat, as a person who believes in democracy -- a Republican democrat, I might add -- as someone who believes that everybody has a right to live in a free society and everybody wants to live in a free society, the month of January 2005 is an extraordinary month."
But for the Bush administration, the victory of Abbas and the election of a moderate Palestinian leadership is the first step in its efforts to relaunch the Middle East peace process. Bush promised after his election victory in November to make this a foreign policy priority.
The US leader said he believed Israel had contributed to the success of the Palestinian election. Both sides still have heavy "responsibilities" to get the process back on track.
It will be "very important" for Israel to carry out its pledge to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank, Bush said.
"It is essential that Israel keep a vision of two states living side by side in peace; and that, as the Palestinians begin to develop the institutions of a state, that the Israel government support the development of those institutions."
Bush said Israel had to help the Palestinians with their economy, healthcare system and building a new society. "Israel can play and must play an important part of the development of a Palestinian state."
He added: "At the same time, it's essential that the Palestinian leadership consolidate security forces so that they can fight off those few who still have the desire to destroy Israel as a part of their philosophy."
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
RSS