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Bush says US Mideast plans to benefit all mankind WASHINGTON, Nov 11: US President George W Bush, who is deeply unpopular in the Islamic world, told Muslim leaders yesterday that America’s . .....more Bush nominates Gonzales to replace Ashcroft WASHINGTON, Nov 11: President George W Bush nominated as his new Attorney General yesterday the top White House lawyer, Alberto Gonzales, ....more Palestinian
leader RAMALLAH, WEST BANK, Nov 11: Yasser Arafat, the ultimate symbol of Palestinian nationalism, died today in a French hospital at the age of 75....more Kuwaitis swept up in Islamist wave KUWAIT, Nov 11: At a Kuwaiti hotel Sheikh-ali-abu-al-Hassan holds an audience spellbound with his talk about "the .. .......more |
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Vitamin E may do more harm than good, study finds NEW ORLEANS, Nov 11: Vitamin E supplements, which millions take in the hope of longer, healthier lives, may .....more Cleric’s lawyer says she followed ethics rules NEW YORK, Nov 11: A US lawyer accused of helping a radical Muslim cleric smuggle terrorist messages out .....more Yasser Arafat who never saw his dream of indenendent state become reality RAMALLAH, WEST BANK, Nov 11: Yasser Arafat, who died in France today, was the standard-bearer of Palestinia ...more US advances in Falluja, but rebel threat remains FALLUJA, IRAQ, Nov 11: Chatting during a lull in fighting yesterday, the US Marines had no time to think when a mortar smashed into their vehicles in Falluja. ...more |
Bush says US Mideast plans to benefit all mankind WASHINGTON, Nov 11: US President George W Bush, who is deeply unpopular in the Islamic world, told Muslim leaders yesterday that America’s plans for the Middle East will lead to a better future "for all mankind." Observing the holy month of Ramadan with a traditional evening dinner, bush cited last month’s Afghan elections and a planned January poll in iraq as evidence of US success at bringing democratic reform to the greater Middle East. "In Iraq, families are observing this holy month in a free society," he told Muslim American leaders and diplomats from Islamic countries at a White House Iftar dinner held to break the daily fasting of Ramadan, which began in mid-October. "In Afghanistan, brave men and women have transformed a country and they have inspired our world," Bush said. "Over the next four years we will work to ensure that the gift of freedom reaches more men and women in the broader middle east." He vowed to encourage reform by working with leaders in the region. "And as we do so, we’ll build a better future for all mankind," said Bush, who has been buoyed politically at home by his decisive election victory over democrat John Kerry. But with the Middle East peace process in disarray and US forces battling Islamist militants in Iraq, analysts say Bush faces an enormous challenge convincing Muslims that his policies are meant to create peace and prosperity. "The vast majority of people in Arab nations believe the US is out for three things: oil, support for Israel and the weakening of Islam," said Shibley Telhami, the Anwar Sadat professor of peace and development at the university of Maryland. "Even in a non-Arab country like Turkey, the no. 1 perception is that the US is out to confront Muslims, that the war on terrorism is a war on Islam." Bush’s popularity among Muslims in America has plummeted since the Sept 11, 2001 attacks, which brought a homeland security response that Muslim leaders say has eroded civil rights with heavy-handed law enforcement tactics. An estimated 93 percent of Muslim-Americans voted against Bush’s re-election, according to the council on American-Islamic relations. Four years ago, he received about 70 percent of the Muslim vote. (AGENCIES) |
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Bush nominates Gonzales to replace Ashcroft WASHINGTON, Nov 11: President George W Bush nominated as his new Attorney General yesterday the top White House lawyer, Alberto Gonzales, a son of migrant workers who rose to become a confidant of Bush and helped shape legal opinions about prisoner treatment in the war on terror. If confirmed by the republican-controlled senate, Gonzales, 49, would be the first hispanic-American to become the country’s top law-enforcement official. He would replace Attorney General John Ashcroft, whose resignation was announced on Tuesday night and was the first of several expected changes in the Bush cabinet in his second term. Gonzales is expected to face stiff questioning at his congressional confirmation hearings on allegations that Bush administration legal opinions influenced the abuse of prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq. "His sharp intellect and sound judgment have helped shaped our policies in the war on terror, policies designed to protect the security of all Americans while protecting the rights of all Americans," Bush said in announcing Gonzales’ nomination during a ceremony in the White House roosevelt room. Gonzales said if confirmed he would pursue policies aimed at "justice for every American." "On this principle, there can be no compromise," he said. Bush said Gonzales Rose from humble beginnings, having grown up in a two-bedroom house in Texas with his parents, who were migrant workers, and seven siblings, to go on to Harvard law school and become the White House legal counsel. He is a former Texas Supreme Court Justice. "He always gives me his frank opinion. He is a calm and steady voice in times of crisis. He has an unwavering principle of respect for the law," Bush said. New York democratic Sen Charles Schumer, a member of the senate judiciary committee that will consider Gonzales, sounded optimistic about him. "It’s encouraging that the President has chosen someone less polarizing. We will have to review his record very carefully but I can tell you already he’s a better candidate than John Ashcroft." The senate confirmation hearing is expected to delve into what role Gonzales played in writing a legal opinion that outlined rules for the treatment of prisoners in Afghanistan and Iraq, civil liberties groups have said this opinion contributed to the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, a charge denied by the administration. "Congress should look very carefully at Mr Gonzales’s role in the downward spiral of legal violations that led to the atrocities at Abu Ghraib," said Reed Brody, counsel at human rights watch, a watchdog group that monitors human rights violations globally. A January 2002 memo relating to the treatment of prisoners is also expected to draw questions at his confirmation hearing.In that document, Gonzales argued the requirements of obtaining information from would-be terrorists rendered obsolete the Geneva convention’s strict limitations on questioning of enemy prisoners. It also "renders quaint some of its provisions requiring that captured enemy be afforded such things as commissary privileges, scrip (advances of monthly pay), athletic uniforms and scientific instruments," the document said. "That’s a troubling thing for someone who would be the country’s chief law enforcement officer," said Elliot Mincberg, legal director for people for the American way, who with the American civil liberties union urged that he be questioned on this. On capitol hill, Congressional aides predicted Gonzales would be confirmed after some tough questioning. "We are going to want to hear about the administration weakening US torture policy, its use of the patriot act and lack of cooperation with Congress in oversight of the justice department," a senior democratic senate aide said. A republican aide predicted, "democrats will use Gonzales as a punching bag, but at the end of the day they will join republicans and confirm him." (AGENCIES) |
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Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is dead RAMALLAH, WEST BANK, Nov 11: Yasser Arafat, the ultimate symbol of Palestinian nationalism, died today in a French hospital at the age of 75. "Our President, our leader, the holder of the flag to the new future, brother Yasser Arafat, passed away at 4:30 this morning (0800 ist)," Tayeb Abdelrahim, the head of the Palestinian authority leader’s office, told reporters outside Arafat’s Muqataa headquarters. "The Palestinian leadership mourns with our people, with the Arab nation, with the whole of humaity, (the loss of) the tutor, the leader, the son of Palestine, its symbol, the builder of its modern nationalism and the hero of its battle for freedom and independence," he added. Arafat, the embodiment of Palestinian aspirations for statehood for four decades, had been critically ill in a military French hospital since being airlifted from his Ramallah headquarters on October 29. He had been in a coma since the middle of last week and had been placed on a life support machine. The death at the percy military hospital was confirmed by the French army’s top doctor, General Christian Estripeau. "Mr Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority, has died at Percy Military Hospital at Clamart on November 11 at 3:30 am (0800 ist)," he announced in a short statement outside the hospital. Abdelrahim confirmed that Arafat will be buried tomorrow in the Muqataa headquarters where he had been under virtual Israeli house arrest for the almost the last three years of his life, after a funeral service in Cairo. The Palestinian authority declared a general mourning across the occupied territories, while the Palestinian flag was flying at half-mast at the Muqataa and local television broadcast verses from the Koran, the Muslim tradition on the death of leading figures. Parliament Speaker Rawhi Fattuh is expected to serve as caretaker leader of the Palestinian authority after Arafat’s death until Palestinian leaders divide control of their key institutions. He would likely serve as a interim administrator for 60 days, after which new elections must be held. Former Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas will automatically take over as permanent head of both Arafat’s dominant Fatah faction and the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) upon Arafat’s death, while current premier Ahmed Qorei will head up the National Security Council. Hundreds of people took to the streets of Gaza City after the announcement of his death with dozens of people unleashing volleys of gunfire into the air, while the radical Islamist movement Hamas offered its condolences. (AFP) |
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Kuwaitis swept up in Islamist wave KUWAIT, Nov 11: At a Kuwaiti hotel Sheikh-ali-abu-al-Hassan holds an audience spellbound with his talk about "the pleasures of heaven", a paradise where true Muslims will enjoy virgins, eternal bliss and bounty. Down the road at Kuwait’s university, women and men are brought down to earth with the reality of life in the oil rich Emirate. They are segregated to prevent them from "sin". Islamist protests in Kuwait have forced the Government to ban pop concerts, while at hospitals devout women surgeons are refusing to operate on men saying it is religiously forbidden for them to see their genitals. In the past, men and women mingled and dated in Kuwait. The country had mixed beach clubs for nationals. No longer. Most now have separate swimming days for women and men. Like other Gulf States, Kuwait is witnessing a rising tide of fanatical Islam. More and more women wear the veil and more men grow beards to display their religious fervour. Islamist extremism indoctrinated by the Sunni Salafi and Wahhabi movements is spreading from Saudi Arabia to neighbouring Kuwait, influencing its youth and affecting all aspects of life. Many Kuwaitis, like other Arabs, denounce the United States and its allies for backing "corrupt" rulers and what they see as Washington’s war against Islam and plans to control their region’s oil wealth. "Kuwait was a relaxed place 30 years ago. If people choose to be more Islamist you can hardly stop them from doing that," said a western diplomat with long experience of the country. "There is a significant number of people who believe in the (Muslim) fundamentalist approach. There is also a significant number of people who hate the Americans and Europeans," he said. Other diplomats point to an alarming rise of sympathy among young Kuwaitis for Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. The Islamists’ won their foothold in Kuwaiti society through schools and universities. That served as a springboard to more influential posts and eventually to Parliament from where they are now imposing their views through the law making process. "They brainwash children at a young age. Dancing is banned, concerts are banned, we’re heading to dark times. Anything pleasurable is deemed un-Islamic and immoral," said Leila Othman, a liberal Kuwaiti writer. "I am sad. We lived golden days in Kuwait in the past. The Kuwait I lived in is not the one I can identify with now." Othman, most of whose books are banned because of their progresssive ideas, has her own experience of the Islamic transformation. "I have a daughter who is veiled, she belongs to the salafis. My son is a religious extremist. This pains me because at home we didn’t have this zealousness. It was the school and university. These were the dens of indoctrination. Our children regressed," she said. The Islamists pushed through Parliament a law that forced universities to segregate the sexes, causing tremendous inconvenience for faculties which did not have the staff to meet the demands of double classrooms. One of the solutions was that girls would sit in class in front of a screen, listening via a microphone to a male professor lecturing boys in another room. The girls would take notes and ask questions via the screen. "This segregation led to chaos. It has no benefit at all and won’t change things. What was so bad when we had boys with us in the same room? Nothing happened. They used to sit on one side and us on the other," said Huda Yahya, a 22-year-old chemical engineer. But for female pupils who believe in strict Islamist tenets segregation is demanded by Sharia law which forbids unrelated women and men from mixing. "There is danger when classrooms are mixed that boys and girls would become distracted and their minds would wander to lustful thoughts. It could lead to sin," said Abeer-al-Onaizi, 19, a mechanical engineering student. "It is wrong to be in the same room. This is one thousand times better," said Mona-al-Ajami, a 21-year-old student. Academics say radical change did not happen overnight. "The change did not come suddenly," said Seham-al-Furaih, a professor of Arabic literature for 20 years. "The university is the mirror of society. While teaching I saw the number of my students wearing the veil growing steadily. The number increased more with every and each term. Now I can count the girls who are not veiled in my class," she said. Academics questioned the wisdom of separating men and women in classrooms when in the workplace they would have to mix. "Women have always worked with men. Taking a decision to separate them at university is contradictory," Furaih added. Kuwaiti liberals accuse the Government, a leading US ally, of capitulating to Islamist demands, citing the recent banning of the arabic pop show "star academy" in response to protests by Islamists who denounced it "indecent and immoral". As in other Gulf states, some of Kuwait’s elite lead a Quasi-western lifestyle. They buy western clothes, have parties and discos at home, sometimes with alcohol which is forbidden by the Koran. "The constricting religious atmosphere is generating frustration and leading the young to live two kind of lives —an underground hedonistic one or another obsessively religious life," Othman said. "All the Arab world is looking for salvation from the grip of these religious tentacles that have spread everywhere. This is a catastrophe. How many years would it take us to break free of this? It is a tragedy," she added. (AGENCIES) |
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Vitamin E may do more harm than good, study finds NEW ORLEANS, Nov 11: Vitamin E supplements, which millions take in the hope of longer, healthier lives, may do more harm than good, researchers reported. In fact, people taking high doses of Vitamin E may in some cases be more likely to die earlier, although the reasons are not clear, said Dr Edgar Miller of Johns Hopkins university in Baltimore, who led the study. "I think people take Vitamin E because they think it is going to make you live longer, but this (study) doesn’t support that," Miller told reporters yesterday. Miller and colleagues re-analyzed 19 studies of Vitamin E and health between 1993 and 2004. The trials involved more than 136,000 mostly elderly patients in North America, Europe and China. People who took 200 international units of Vitamin E a day or more died at a higher rate during the study, which lasted three years, than people who did not take supplements, they told a meeting of the American heart association. "It’s about a 5 percent increased risk at 45 years in the trials pooled together," Miller said. "That doesn’t sound like a lot but if you apply it to 25 per cent of the (US) adult population taking Vitamin E, that is significant." Miller, whose findings are also being published online by the annals of internal medicine, said two-thirds of people who take Vitamin E supplements take 400 iu or more. "We don’t think that people need to take Vitamin E supplements, that they get enough from the diet," he said. Nuts, oils, whole grains and green leafy vegetables are all rich in Vitamin E. The average US diet supplies six to 10 iu of E, Miller said. The Institute of Medicine, which sets recommended doses of Vitamins and minerals, gives 1,500 iu of E as a daily upper limit. "I would say it is too high," Miller said. The US Government’s food and drug administration is barred by law from regulating dietary supplements so the limits are voluntary. People take large doses of Vitamin E in the belief that it helps counter oxidation by unstable "free radical" molecules, which damages cells and can accelerate aging and lead to heart disease and cancer. Miller, who was surprised by the findings of the study, said there could be several ways the Vitamin supplementation is damaging the body. While Vitamin E in low doses is a powerful antioxidant, in higher doses its effects may promote oxidative damage, and may also overwhelm the body’s natural antioxidants, he said. Dr Raymond gibbons of the mayo clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, said the evidence has been building against Vitamin E supplements. "Despite this ... I see many, many patients still taking Vitamin E and I have to convince them not to," he told a separate news conference. But the council for responsible nutrition, a trade group for supplement makers, criticized the report. "This is an unfortunate misdirection of science in an attempt to make something out of nothing for the sake of headlines," said the group’s John Hathcock. (AGENCIES) |
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Cleric’s lawyer says she followed ethics rules NEW YORK, Nov 11: A US lawyer accused of helping a radical Muslim cleric smuggle terrorist messages out of prison insisted yesterday that she had followed the ethical rules that guide attorneys’ behavior. The lawyer, Lynne Stewart, 65, completed her testimony in the trial after a blistering cross-examination in which she admitted knowing that her client, imprisoned Felon Sheik Omar-abdel-Rahman, advocated violence and was the leader of a militant organization that carried out deadly attacks. Stewart, known for her left-wing politics and representation of unpopular, poor and minority clients, is fighting charges she broke the law by allowing Abdel-Rahman to communicate from prison with the Islamic group. It is classified as a terrorist organization by the US Government. She could face 15 years in prison if convicted of the most serious charge against her, providing "material support" to terrorists. Opening statements in the Manhattan federal case against Stewart and two co-defendants began in June and the trial could end in late December. The case is being watched by the nation’s defense lawyers, some of whom are worried the Bush administration is trying to intimidate attorneys who represent suspected terrorists and other unpopular clients. Indeed, a key part of Stewart’s defense is aimed at showing some of the charges go against a lawyer’s duty to represent clients fully and to protect attorney-client confidentiality. "I was operating under ethical rules under which all lawyers are encouraged to be autonomous and make decisions," she testified on Wednesday. The case against Stewart stems from her defense of Abdel-Rahman, an Egyptian convicted in 1995 of conspiring to attack US targets, who is serving a life sentence. Prosecutors say the plot included the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and plans to attack the United Nations and other landmarks. Stewart is charged with lying to the Government by violating agreements to abide by special prison restrictions aimed at stopping Abdel-Rahman from sending messages that could result in terrorism. The measures restricted the cleric’s access to mail, the media, telephones and visitors. She has admitted giving a correspondent a statement issued by the cleric in 2000 saying he had withdrawn his support for the Islamic group’s cease-fire in Egypt. Earlier this week, she acknowledged during cross-examination that she knew at the time of the statement that the Islamic group had a history of violence and that Abdel-Rahman had been its leader. However, Stewart denied that her issuance of the statement was a call to violence and said she believed the language of the prison restrictions gave her leeway to disseminate the press release. (AGENCIES) |
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Yasser Arafat who never saw his dream of indenendent state become reality RAMALLAH, WEST BANK, Nov 11: Yasser Arafat, who died in France today, was the standard-bearer of Palestinian nationalism for nearly half a century who never saw his dream of an Independent state become reality. A career that saw him graduate from Guerrilla leader to the Nobel prize-winning President of the Palestinian authority, fizzled out amid Israeli calls for his assassination and demands from his own people for drastic reform. But his status as the 40-year symbol of the Palestinians’ fight for their homeland was never challenged and he leaves a huge gap, difficult to fill. His death at 75 also showed that time finally caught up with a man known as a survivor, who outlived nearly all his great rivals, even cheating death by walking away from a 1992 plane crash in the Libyan desert. Yasser Arafat was born Mohammed-abdel-Rawf Arafat-al-Qudwa-al-Hussaini, on August 4, 1929. The official version of his life history records that he was born in Jerusalem. However, numerous biographers have established that he was in fact born in Cairo, where his father, from Gaza, owned a business. He spent his childhood shuttling between the Egyptian capital and Palestine. By 17, he was running guns to Palestinian groups fighting the creation of a Jewish state as the British mandate in Palestine crumbled after the end of World War II. He fought in the 1948 war between Israel and its Arab neighbours that immediately followed the foundation of the Jewish state. Shattered by Israel’s crushing victory, he returned to Egypt and Cairo university where he studied engineering and became involved in Palestinian political circles. Falling foul of Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser, Arafat left Cairo for Kuwait where he established an engineering business with fellow Palestinians. Together with Khalil-al-Wazir, Faruq Khaddumi, Salah Khalaf and Mahmud Abbas, he founded the Fatah movement in 1959 to fight against the Jewish state. Arafat, who had taken the Nom De Guerre of Abu Ammar, was elected chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in February 1969 and stepped on to the world stage in his trademark Arab headdress, or Keffiyeh, and green fatigues. Short, paunchy and usually sporting stubble, Arafat rose to leadership by the force of his fiery personality, his acute instinct for political survival and his total dedication to the cause. Invited to address the UN General Assembly in November 1974, Arafat summed up his philosophy in words still relevant three decades on. "Today I have come bearing an olive branch and a freedom fighter’s gun. Do not let the olive branch fall from my hand," he told world leaders in New York. After securing the PLO leadership, Arafat began an Odyssey that saw him wind up in Tunisia after being expelled from Jordan by King Hussein’s troops in 1970 and from Lebanon by Israeli forces, led by his Nemesis Ariel Sharon, in 1982. With military options running out and the eruption of the first Palestinian intifada, or uprising, in the West Bank and Gaza in 1987 he began to negotiate with Israel. (AFP) |
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US advances in Falluja, but rebel threat remains FALLUJA, IRAQ, Nov 11: Chatting during a lull in fighting yesterday, the US Marines had no time to think when a mortar smashed into their vehicles in Falluja. It sent one Marine’s boots flying across the desert floor as others jumped under a truck for cover and a second round landed nearby. When they stood up, five soldiers lay wounded beside their amphibious assault vehicles, one seriously. US forces may have made significant gains in an offensive aimed at crushing Muslim militants and Saddam Hussein loyalists. But they remain vulnerable even in positions they have captured. "Get the medic, get the medic. It landed on their vehicles," screamed a Marine as he rushed towards the wounded men. Minutes later, medics with latex gloves picked up one of the wounded men’s boots as others looked on. "Now you know why I’m always telling you to get your flakjackets on. Get back to what you were doing. This is Iraq," said master sergeant Roy Meek. It was bound to happen. Insurgents have been firing mortars in the direction of the American position since the offensive started on Monday. Most have landed about 400 feet (130 metres) away, temporarily grabbing the attention of Marines in a part of Falluja where airstrikes and artillery fire make much louder noises than mortars. A few hours before Wednesday’s blast, one looked at the other and said: "I swear one of those damn mortars is going to land here." A third mortar hit the same area just after helicopters arrived to evacuate the wounded. But mortar bombs are not the only threat. Members of the new Iraqi army who share the position with the Americans said buildings just a few blocks away were still infested with snipers, who occasionally fire towards them. It’s also a problem in other parts of Falluja. Fifty Iraqi civilians who were brought to the position by Iraqi forces said they had been trapped in their homes with scarce food and water since the offensive began. "As soon as we set foot in front of our homes the snipers fire at us. We were finally able to get here when the foreign fighters were driven out of our neighbourhoods," said an Iraqi man who was still holding a wooden stick with a white flag. The offensive is designed to crush Al-Qaeda ally Abu Musab-al-Zarqawi and his Arab militant fighters, as well as other groups of insurgents holed up in the city ahead of elections scheduled on Jan 27. Several of the Iraqi civilians, who declined to give their names for fear of reprisals, said militants from Arab countries including Saudi Arabia and Egypt had been intimidating Iraqis ahead of the offensive. "They would tell us that we had to take up arms and fight with them or else we were infidels and god would punish us," said an elderly, bearded Iraqi man. "They took over the rooftops of our buildings and then the Americans fired at our neighbourhoods." An Iraqi army officer, who has lost many comrades to the raging insurgency, looked at a young man and told him to tell a reporter how the Iraqi army rescued the civilians. But the young man just recalled the foreign fighters who took over his neighbourhood and their staunch puritanism. "All you had to do was smoke a cigarette and they would come after you and threaten you," he said. (AGENCIES) France’s Chirac hails Arafat as man of courage PARIS, Nov 11: French President Jacques Chirac, confirming Yasser Arafat’s death, hailed the Palestinian leader today as a man of courage and conviction who embodied the Palestinian struggle for a state. "It is with emotion that I have just learnt of the death of President Yasser Arafat, the first elected President of the Palestinian authority," Chirac said in a written statement. "I offer my very sincere condolences to his family and to people close to him." Chirac urged the international community to persevere with efforts to ensure an international peace plan known as the road map is put into effect in the west Asia. (AGENCIES) Al-Qaeda to disintegrate in 2 years: UK adviser LONDON, Nov 11: Al-Qaeda will begin to disintegrate within two years as its various factions start to squabble and militants return to their local roots, a senior British Parliamentary adviser predicted yesterday. Professor Michael Clarke, a specialist adviser to lawmakers on the House of Commons Defence Committee, said the consequence would be that the security services would be able to win the "war on terror" as the group’s structure fell apart. "I think (cracks) are going to start to appear in the next 12 months to two years," he told at a security conference in London. "It’s going to start to fragment and split up," he said. Clarke said he envisaged the network breaking down into smaller, disparate cells which would be more easily infiltrated and dealt with, bringing an end to the group’s ability to carry out major attacks along the lines of the Sept 11 attacks. "Terrorism will go back to being about more local issues. It will be reduced to a level which people can live with," he said. Al-Qaeda’s pyramid structure — with Osama bin Laden and about 30 associates at its head spreading out to a loose franchise of affiliated networks — would begin to prove a major weakness when it was once a strength, he said. Groups associated with Al-Qaeda across the world, such as those in southeast Asia, would start to pursue their local agendas, he added. (AGENCIES) Bush sees ‘opening for peace’ with Palestinians WASHINGTON, Nov 11: With Yasser Arafat near death, US President George W Bush said yesterday he saw an opening for negotiating peace with a new Palestinian leadership, declaring: "I think we’ve got a chance." Bush, who sidelined the long-time Palestinian leader as an obstacle to peace, said his administration may be prepared to offer assistance to shore up Palestinian institutions but he offered no details. The Bush administration is considering sending assistant Secretary of State Williams Burns, and possibly others, to Arafat’s funeral. US and European officials say consultations are under way on a renewed peace effort. Asked if a new Palestinian leadership would create an opening for peace, Bush said: "I do." "There will be an opening for peace when leadership of the Palestinian people steps forward and says help us build a democratic and free society," Bush told reporters during a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jaap De Hoop Scheffer. "When that happens — and I believe it’s going to happen because I believe all people desire to live in freedom — the United States of America will be more than willing to help build the institutions necessary for a free society to emerge so that the Palestinians can have their own state," Bush said. "I think we’ve got a chance to do that, and I look forward to being involved in that process," he added. (AGENCIES) Arafat’s death "significant moment" in pales history: Bush WASHINGTON, Nov 11: US President George W Bush said that the death of Yasser Arafat, announced today, was a "significant moment" in the history of the Palestinian people and he hoped the future would bring peace. "The death of Yasser Arafat is a significant moment in Palestinian history," Bush said in a statement issued by the White House. "We express our condolences to the Palestinian people." Arafat, 75, had been critically ill in a French military hospital since being airlifted from his West Bank headquarters on October 29, and had been in a coma since the middle of last week. The death at the percy military hospital was confirmed by the French army’s top doctor, General Christian Estripeau. "For the Palestinian people, we hope that the future will bring peace and the fulfillment of their aspirations for an independent, democratic palestine that is at peace with its neighbors," Bush said in his statement. "During the period of transition that is ahead, we urge all in the region and throughout the world to join in helping make progress toward these goals and toward the ultimate goal of peace," he added. (AFP) |
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