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Blair Defies Bush over Arafat
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| British
PM, Tony Blair, smiles on arrival in Calgary for the G8 summit
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KANASASKIS,
Canada
, June 26 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Sharp divisions over
Middle East
peacemaking loomed over leaders gathering at a secluded Canadian
Rockies resort Tuesday, June 25, for the first G8 summit since the
September 11 attacks.
U.S.
President George W. Bush called for a new Palestinian leadership
“not compromised by terror,” just before heading to the two-day
summit of the leaders from
Britain
,
Canada
,
France
,
Germany
,
Italy
,
Japan
,
Russia
and the
United States
.
In
reaction, the European Union and
Russia
were adamant about not ruling out Palestinian President Yasser Arafat,
who they said was a popularly elected official of the Palestinian
people.
The
U.K.
has refused to back Bush’s demand for the ousting of Arafat as the
price for a future Palestinian state. U.K. Prime Minister, Tony Blair,
and U.K. Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, both said it was up to the
Palestinian people to choose their own leader, BBC’s online news
service reported.
Bush
and Blair are due to discuss the matter in private talks on Wednesday,
June 26, during the G8 summit in
Canada
.
Several
U.K.
newspapers say the issue could mark the first serious rift between the
two leaders since 11 September.
Blair
tried to soft pedal the policy difference on Tuesday evening, telling
the BBC on the way to
Canada
: “I don’t think there is any real difference at all. We all want
someone we can deal with on the Palestinian side.
“They’ve
got to choose their own leaders - but we do need interlocutors with
whom we can work seriously, particularly on the security and
counter-terrorism aspect.”
He
added: “I think there will be a very broad measure of agreement...
whatever people may think of Yasser Arafat.”
Blair’s
official spokesman said that because the two governments were not
using “precisely the same language”, it did not mean that
Britain
did not broadly welcome Bush’s initiative.
Earlier,
Straw broadly welcomed Bush’s peace plans, but said that if Arafat
was re-elected in fresh elections,
Britain
would continue to work with him.
Straw’s
aides later pointed to a speech he gave last month in which he
acknowledged differences of approach between the E.U. and
U.S.
, but said both were “mature enough to cope with dissent and
debate.”
Meanwhile,
Donald Anderson, Chairman of the House of Commons foreign affairs
select committee, told the BBC there was clearly a difference in
emphasis between the
U.S.
and
U.K.
Referring
to Bush’s speech, he said: “It is a dangerous doctrine, indeed
impertinent, to tell to one side in the conflict that we insist that
you change your leadership.”
The
Tories warned that any sign of a rift between
Britain
and the
U.S.
would only serve to undermine hopes of reviving the peace process in
the Middle-East.
Arafat
himself, although he welcomed Bush’s speech, has brushed off the
call for the Palestinians to find a new leader, saying he was
democratically elected and that it is up to the Palestinian people
alone to choose.
Other
world leaders have expressed unease at the call for him to go.
“The
Palestinian people will alone decide who is their legitimate
leader,” German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said.
U.N.
Secretary General Kofi Annan, who will participate in the G8 summit,
welcomed the idea of a state of
Palestine
but avoided comment on the call to replace Arafat.
The
French administration insisted that only the Palestinians have the
right to choose their leader.
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