As Yasser Arafat was buried, President George W. Bush raised hopes for a Middle East peace and the creation of an independent Palestinian state within four years, suggesting decades of distrust and frustration could be altered by the change of Palestinian leadership. Bush said that building democracy in the Palestinian territories was part of his vision for the world in the wake of the attacks.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, standing alongside Bush at a White House news conference, joined in pledging to mobilise global support for Palestinian elections and creating the conditions for a democratic state. "What we are saying is, we are going to work flat out to deliver this," Blair said. "I'd like to see it done in four years," said Bush, referring to the length of his second term. "I think it is possible. I think it is possible." Bush originally set a goal of 2005 for a Palestinian state. The future Palestinian state evoked by Bush must be nothing less than a "proper democratic state", Blair said. In a round of television interviews, Blair said the priority is to organise elections that will bring forth a new leadership. "He (Bush) made a very powerful statement that he understood that America's freedom and security is best guaranteed by democracy in other countries," Blair told Channel Four television. "You will find, in respect of the Palestinian state, a real push towards it, but an insistance that it be a proper democratic state," he said.
| Wonder if they've figured out that Bush means what he says? |
On Five television, Blair added: "The first thing we've got to do is make sure that the Palestinian elections take place." |