No state if Palestinians don't fight terror: Bush

New govt must be independent of Arafat: US

23 September 2003, 18:00 PM

AFP, Washington

US President George W. Bush warned in an interview aired Monday that there will be no Palestinian state unless the Palestinian leadership fights terrorism. "I believe it's in everybody's interest that there be a Palestinian state," Bush told Fox's Brit Hume. "But it will not happen so long as the interlocutor, the so-called representative of the people, won't fight terror." He added that the problem with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was his reluctance to do just that. Middle East politics were thrown into turmoil early this month, when Palestinian prime minister Mahmud Abbas resigned in frustration with his inability to implement desired reforms and move the stalled regional peace process forward. Arafat nominated Ahmed Qorei to replace Abbas, but massive demonstrations of support prompted by Israeli threats to deport or assassinate Arafat showed the Palestinian leader remained a force to be reckoned with. However, Bush reiterated US determination not to deal with Arafat. "No question Arafat has failed," he said. "The Palestinians have suffered under his leadership, and hopefully new leaders will emerge that will be committed to peace, willing to fight terror, and out of that will come a Palestinian state." But the president expressed opposition to suggestions to forcibly remove Arafat through intervention from outside. "In America, we believe in getting rid of people through a peaceful, orderly process," he said. "And the Palestinian people should make that decision by getting a government that represents their will." Meanwhile, the United States said late Monday that any new Palestinian government must be independent from what it called "machinations" of Yasser Arafat, if it wanted to move toward an independent Palestinian state. The warning, delivered by Secretary of State Colin Powell, followed a massive outpouring of popular support for the embattled Palestinian leader prompted by Israeli threats earlier this month to either send him into exile or assassinate him.