*EPF301 07/17/2002
Text: White House Report, July 17: The Middle East
(Bush asked about Mideast at White House press conference) (450)

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BUSH AGAIN URGES CHANGES IN PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY

President Bush has repeated his call for reform within the Palestinian Authority, saying it "is a crucial element to achieving the confidence necessary amongst all parties so that we can eventually achieve the vision of two states living side by side in peace."

Bush said "we need to put institutions in place so that a peaceful Palestinian state can emerge. And that ought to be the primary focus," of Mideast peace efforts.

Bush made the remarks during a July 17 joint press conference at the White House with Poland's President Aleksander Kwasniewski in which a reporter asked him whether he was willing to work with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat.

"The issue is much bigger than a person, as far as I'm concerned," Bush said. "I made it clear, I thought. The person you mentioned, Mr. Arafat, has failed to deliver. I still feel that way. And I know the Palestinian people will be better served by new leadership."

Bush said the Middle East focus of his administration "is to work with leaders from around the world, some of whom were in New York yesterday, to work to make sure there's a new constitution which divides power, so that one person doesn't get to decide the fate of a group of people who have suffered mightily. That there are security arrangements in place, so that they serve to make the area more secure, as opposed to security forces all existing -- all of which exist to keep a person in power. Reforms of financial institutions to make sure there's full transparency, to make sure that the money that we spend on humanitarian aid ends up helping Palestinian people, not a few leaders."

Those institutional changes, Bush said, "are essential for the evolution of a state. It's essential that those institutions are developed so that the people of Palestine get helped. That's essential."

Bush added that he believes "we're making progress to this end. This is an issue much bigger than a single person. Mr. Arafat would like the whole issue to be about him. That's the way it's been in the past. Except when you analyze his record, he has failed the Palestinian people. He just has. And that's reality," Bush said.

Bush is scheduled to meet the afternoon of July 18 at the White House with the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

Earlier July 17, White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer at his early morning meeting with reporters said there are "positive, interesting, quiet developments taking place in terms of peace in the Middle East."

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(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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