CAMP DAVID, Md. -- President Bush told Palestinians on Thursday that if they want peace, they must have a leader who fights terror. He said Yasser Arafat "has failed as a leader" and accused him of forcing the resignation of a prime minister who had worked for peace.\n"Hopefully, at some point in time, a leadership of the Palestinian leadership will emerge which will then commit itself 100 percent to fighting off terror," Bush said as he met at the presidential retreat here with Jordan's King Abdullah II, a vital ally in the Middle East.\nTurning to Iraq, Bush said he does not expect a new U.N. Security Council resolution to be ready by the time he goes before the U.N. General Assembly next Tuesday.\nThe United States is seeking Security Council backing for a resolution that would clear the way for additional peacekeeping troops and money to finance Iraq's reconstruction from other countries.\nDespite initial reluctance of other major countries to step forward with troops or money, Bush said he was encouraged that some nations like Britain and Poland had stepped forward and that, he would "continue to make the case that reconstruction aid is necessary."\nOn the Middle East, Bush said he regretted that former Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas had been forced to resign.\n"His efforts were undermined and that's why we're still stalled," Bush said. He added that he was specifically blaming Arafat for the breakdown in the peace process.\n"Mr. Arafat has failed as a leader...The people of the Palestinian territories must understand that if they want peace, they must have leadership who is absolutely 100 percent committed to fighting off terror," he said.\nBush noted that he had last met Abdullah three months in Aqaba, Jordan, when the king hosted a three-way summit among Bush, Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to launch a U.S.-backed "road map" to peace.\nAbbas resigned Sept. 6 after power struggles with Arafat.\n"Prime Minister Abbas made a good-faith effort to meet the commitments made at Aqaba, yet at every turn he was undercut by the old order," Bush said.\n"I remain committed -- solidly committed -- to the vision of two states living side by side in peace and security. Yet that will only happen with new Palestinian leadership committed to fighting terror not compromised by terror."\nFor his part, Abdullah praised Bush for the "strong genuine dedication you have shown" in attempting to get the peace process going.
"It took a lot of courage to come to the Middle East," Abdullah said. "Unfortunately, there is a lull at the moment," he added, speaking in English.\nBush and Abdullah talked to reporters in a helicopter hangar on the presidential retreat, seeking cover there from the approaching winds and rain of Hurricane Isabel.\nThe Camp David meeting had been scheduled for Friday but was moved up a day because of the approaching storm.\nBush said he does not expect to have agreement on a new U.N. resolution to broaden international involvement in Iraq by the time he addresses the U.N. General Assembly on Tuesday.\n"No I don't think so, but it could be," Bush said. "We'll continue to work on it. The whole purpose, of course, is to make sure that nations feel if they need a U.N. resolution, they'll have one in order to justify participation.\n"The other thing is the U.N. resolution must promote orderly transfer of sovereignty to what will be a freely elected government based upon a constitution. The constitution must be written and there will be free elections. Then sovereignty will occur once the Iraqi people are able to express their opinions," he said.\nEarlier, the president indicated that his administration was trying to accommodate some allies' demands for bigger roles in Iraq's reconstruction for themselves and the United Nations.\nA political irritant arose to cloud the Bush-Abdullah session as the United States called on Jordan to restore its freeze on the bank accounts of six leaders of Hamas, an extremist group that has killed scores of Israelis with suicide bombings.\nJordan's Central Bank retracted a decision this week that had frozen the accounts of six leaders of Hamas and five charities that allegedly funnel money to the group, a minister said Tuesday.\n"Jordan has been an important ally in the war on terrorists, including the financial war on terrorism," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Wednesday. "We urge the government of Jordan to restore its order to freeze the assets of these Hamas leaders and charities."\nAt the United Nations, the United States is seeking the council's backing for a resolution that would clear the way for additional peacekeeping troops and money to finance Iraq's reconstruction from other countries. The Bush administration has agreed to a vital U.N. role in Iraq. France and Germany, with some support from Russia, want the U.S. occupation ended within a month along with more power for the United Nations.\nBush, speaking to reporters Wednesday after meeting with lawmakers negotiating energy legislation, stressed that Iraq needs time to develop a constitution and hold free elections. One of the main elements of the U.S. position is that Iraqis should control when they take over their own country.\nOther officials stressed that the administration also will not budge on another main point: the United Nations shall not have the leading role in postwar Iraq.\nThe officials said the resolution was being reworked to be more specific about a U.N. role. A senior administration official said the United Nations would be offered a larger political and economic role as well as that of coordinator of food and other humanitarian programs.
