Goddammit! At long last Sharon made it to Crawford....
Bush, in Shift, Invites Sharon to Texas Ranch
Thu Mar 17, 2005 07:07 PM ET
By Adam Entous
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush has invited Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for the first time to his Texas ranch for talks next month on stepping up the Middle East peace process, U.S. government sources said on Thursday.
The April 11 visit will be Sharon's first to Bush's ranch in Crawford after nearly 10 visits to the White House since taking office in 2001. Israeli officials had said earlier that the meeting would take place in Washington.
The change in venue can be seen as a move by Bush to bolster a close ally who is under fire from settlers at home over a U.S.-backed Gaza pullout plan.
Bush uses meetings at his Prairie Chapel ranch to reward important allies and reach out to others. Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and Mexican President Vicente Fox are set to visit next week.
The Sharon meeting comes at a time of growing U.S. optimism about jump-starting peace talks after the death of Palestinian president Yasser Arafat last November.
New Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate who declared a cease-fire with Sharon last month, is also expected to meet with Bush next month. But U.S. and Palestinian officials say a date has yet to be set.
Bush, who has made Middle East peace a top second-term priority, met earlier this week with Jordan's King Abdullah and said afterward that Washington's role in the peace process would be to urge both sides to make tough sacrifices.
Sharon last visited Washington last April, when Bush endorsed his plan to evacuate all 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and four of 120 in the West Bank, a pullout now scheduled to begin on July 20.
In supporting the withdrawal, Bush angered Palestinians by saying Israel could not be expected under a final peace accord to return all occupied West Bank land. Sharon has vowed Israel will hold on to large West Bank settlement blocs forever.
Officials said the focus of the April 11 meeting would be to review the details of the Gaza pullout and to coordinate the steps to be taken with Abbas.
Since last April, Sharon has had to reshape a governing coalition that fell apart over the Gaza pullout and other issues. He faces a crucial vote on the state budget, which could jeopardize the government and the Gaza pullout.
Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee, warned earlier this week that Sharon faces the distinct possibility of assassination by an Israeli "wacko" over his commitment to dismantle settlements.
Sharon has his own sprawling ranch, called Sycamore, in southern Israel.
reuters.com |
