Talks With Palestinian Officials To Resume

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Talks With Palestinian Officials To Resume
Bush Commits U.S. To a 'Just Peace'
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 7, 2004; Page A01


President Bush said yesterday that he will open talks with Palestinian officials, with a written commitment to a "just peace," as part of a diplomatic offensive that White House officials said will include a meeting between national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia planned for next week in Europe.



"We will expand dialogue between the United States and the Palestinians," Bush said at a Rose Garden news conference with Jordan's King Abdullah at his side. Bush said he will also write a letter to Qureia 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."

The decision to reopen high-level contacts with Palestinian officials -- after months of shunning them -- followed mounting pressure from Arabs after Bush last month offered written assurances to Israel on key land and refugee issues in a final peace deal. Though White House officials said Bush's assurances did not prejudge the negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, Arabs reacted with outrage and accused the administration of bargaining away Palestinian rights.

Moreover, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon had sought the administration's support for a plan to unilaterally withdraw from the Gaza Strip on the grounds that there was no credible Palestinian negotiating partner. Though Bush yesterday emphasized his continued support for the Sharon plan -- which Sharon's Likud Party rejected earlier this week in a nonbinding referendum -- the decision to begin talking to the Palestinians appeared to mark an abrupt change in administration tactics.

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more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A6856-2004May6.html