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Israel's Sharon Arrives in U.S. as Tensions Flare
NEW YORK, Nov 30 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - As tension flared anew in the Middle East, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arrived here Friday for a five-day visit to the United States to include his third meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush.
Sharon landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport shortly after 6:00 am (1100 GMT) as scheduled after it was rumored he might postpone his U.S. visit in the wake of Thursday's bombing in northern Israel that killed three people.
"I wait and hope that the United States - whose very strong position against terrorism, violence and the incitement to violence is well known - will pressure the Palestinians to end to the violence," Sharon said in response to questions of what he expected from his scheduled Monday meeting with Bush.
The White House on Friday condemned the bombing, and spokesman Ari Fleischer said the U.S. "understands the difficulty and the pain that is being suffered in Israel."
The president "is looking forward to meeting with Prime Minister Sharon. He hopes that it will help to accelerate the process of bringing peace to the Middle East and the resumption of political dialogue under the Mitchell Committee recommendations," Fleischer added.
Accompanied by New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani at a ceremony here honoring the courage of police and firefighters in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, Sharon said he was "convinced that the United States as well as Israel would conquer terrorism."
Government spokesman Arnon Perlman said the prime minister continued his trip because it was important "to express our solidarity with the United States against terrorism."
Perlman also noted the personal relationship Sharon has with Giuliani, and said the prime minister wanted to "show his solidarity with New York's Jewish community," he said.
To cancel the trip would have been "a gift to terrorism," the spokesman said.
Sharon had no plans to meet with New York Mayor-elect Michael Bloomberg, according to Bloomberg's press office.
On Sunday, the prime minister will travel to Washington where he will meet the following day with Bush. On Tuesday, he is to hold talks with Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security adviser, as well as Secretary of State Colin Powell and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, as well as leading lawmakers.
Prior to departing Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport, Sharon said he considered Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat "directly responsible for acts of terrorism" against Israel.
"We consider Yasser Arafat directly responsible for acts of terrorism," Sharon said before boarding the plane for New York, noting that since U.S. peace envoys arrived in the region to push for a ceasefire on Monday, seven Israelis had been killed in attacks and more than 50 wounded.
"Arafat has cynically ordered an increase in the level of terrorism," he charged.
No mention was made of Palestinian lives lost during the same period.
Since Bush took office, he has yet to meet with Arafat, and has postponed and or cancelled previously scheduled meetings between the two.
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