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."
PARLIAMENT CHAOS: Police forcibly removed Brazilian Deputy Glauber Braga after he called the legislation part of a ‘coup offensive’ and occupied the speaker’s chair Brazil’s lower house of Congress early yesterday approved a bill that could slash former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro’s prison sentence for plotting a coup, after efforts by a lawmaker to disrupt the proceedings sparked chaos in parliament. Bolsonaro has been serving a 27-year term since last month after his conviction for a scheme to stop Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from taking office after the 2022 election. Lawmakers had been discussing a bill that would significantly reduce sentences for several crimes, including attempting a coup d’etat — opening up the prospect that Bolsonaro, 70, could have his sentence cut to
China yesterday held a low-key memorial ceremony for the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) not attending, despite a diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Tokyo over Taiwan. Beijing has raged at Tokyo since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi last month said that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could trigger a military response from Japan. China and Japan have long sparred over their painful history. China consistently reminds its people of the 1937 Nanjing Massacre, in which it says Japanese troops killed 300,000 people in what was then its capital. A post-World War II Allied tribunal put the death toll
A passerby could hear the cacophony from miles away in the Argentine capital, the unmistakable sound of 2,397 dogs barking — and breaking the unofficial world record for the largest-ever gathering of golden retrievers. Excitement pulsed through Bosques de Palermo, a sprawling park in Buenos Aires, as golden retriever-owners from all over Argentina transformed the park’s grassy expanse into a sea of bright yellow fur. Dog owners of all ages, their clothes covered in dog hair and stained with slobber, plopped down on picnic blankets with their beloved goldens to take in the surreal sight of so many other, exceptionally similar-looking ones.
‘UNWAVERING ALLIANCE’: The US Department of State said that China’s actions during military drills with Russia were not conducive to regional peace and stability The US on Tuesday criticized China over alleged radar deployments against Japanese military aircraft during a training exercise last week, while Tokyo and Seoul yesterday scrambled jets after Chinese and Russian military aircraft conducted joint patrols near the two countries. The incidents came after Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi triggered a dispute with Beijing last month with her remarks on how Tokyo might react to a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan. “China’s actions are not conducive to regional peace and stability,” a US Department of State spokesperson said late on Tuesday, referring to the radar incident. “The US-Japan alliance is stronger and more
RSS