For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 8, 2002
President Bush Meets with King of Jordan
Remarks by President Bush and His Majesty King Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in Photo Opportunity
The Oval Office
PRESIDENT BUSH: It's an honor for me to welcome back His Majesty,
the King of Jordan. I always enjoy a visit with His Majesty. He's a
man who cares deeply about people of the region, a person who always
emphasizes the humanitarian aspects of people of his country. And he
cares deeply about peace.
It's a series of ongoing discussions I'm having with leaders from
the Middle East as to how we can seize the moment, to bring
peace to the region. Your Majesty, welcome back to the Oval
Office. I'm thrilled to have you here.
KING ABDULLAH: Thank you, Mr. President. Always a delight to see
you again, and to be here at this difficult time. And I hope that
with our discussions today, we can somehow try and articulate a
way to bring Palestinians and Israelis to peace and security. And
I look forward to fruitful discussions with you this evening.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you. We -- the Majesty has agreed to
take a couple of questions, as have I. We'll start with Terry.
Q Mr. President, you said, "seize the moment." In many ways,
this is a difficult moment. At this juncture, as you're trying to put
in place a structure for progress towards peace, do you believe that
Prime Minister Sharon should act with restraint in responding to
yesterday's suicide bombing?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, first I want to remind everybody, it seems
like every week is a difficult week in the Middle East. And it's been
difficult months in the Middle East, and it's been difficult years
in the Middle East. There's been a lot of -- there's been a lot of
hard feelings and hatreds. And our jobs are to convince people,
first and foremost, that they've got to believe in peace. And
Israel is a nation that is a sovereign nation.
But whatever response Israel decides to take, my hope, of course,
is that the Prime Minister keeps his vision of peace in mind. We've
got to want peace in order to achieve peace. And that's what the
United States is working toward.
Q Your Majesty, what is the Jordanian vision that you're willing
to present to the U.S. administration regarding the U.S.
proposed peace conference?
KING ABDULLAH: Well, we're actually here at the moment to see if
we can identify some logical steps over the next few weeks to
articulate the vision that brings the Israelis and the Palestinians
out of the impasse that we're facing at the moment. And we'll discuss
the views this evening, and maybe see if we can find a road map to
have America's support to bring Israelis and Palestinians the peace
that they deserve.
Q Mr. President, do you see any role at all for Arafat in any
king of peace conference at this point, or does that have to wait
until there's been a reform in the Palestinian Authority?
PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, first of all, I was pleased to read
the transcripts of his call against terror, in Arabic. I didn't
read the transcripts in Arabic, I read the English translation.
But I was most pleased that he did that. I thought that was a
incredibly positive sign.
As you know, I've been one who he has disappointed in the past,
and therefore, I hope that his actions now match his words.
It's very important for us, and I'm going to explain this to His
Majesty why I think us -- all of us involved -- must work
hard to put a -- the infrastructure in place, or the
structures in place for a Palestinian Authority that respects rule of
law, that has its own constitution, that is able to fight corruption,
that's able to spend money properly when it gets it from foreign
sources, so that there is hope, there is hope for the Palestinian
people.
One of the things I'm deeply concerned about, and I know His
Majesty is, as well, is that there is a lot of people --
Palestinians who don't believe there is any hope, there's no future.
And we've got to make sure they have a better future, by putting an
economic plan in place. But that can't happen unless there is a
Palestinian Authority that's backed by a true government, I mean a
true sense of the ability to run itself. And that -- and in
turn, will help Israel be more comfortable with her neighbor.
And so we're going to talk about the way forward. And the way
forward is to -- and step one is to make sure there's a unified
Palestinian security force -- a force that is responsible, a force
that reports to a certain authority figure, a force that we can
hold accountable, a force that's not fractured and fights each other.
And to that end, as you know, the other day I announced that George
Tenet is going to go to the region, to help this reform.
Q Your Majesty, you are the fourth leader now that's met
with President Bush in the last two or three weeks. Where do you see
the Arab nations right now? One of the things that the President
called for was that the Arab nations need to take
responsibility, need to take a leadership role. What do you see
the Arab nations as doing, and what is the message that you're
bringing now from the Arab leaders that you have met before coming
here?
KING ABDULLAH: Well, one of the things that we will discuss with
the President this evening is that after this meeting our foreign
minister goes to Cairo to be there at the summit that is going
to be convened by President Mubarak and Crown Prince Abdullah,
with a group of Arab countries, that will articulate the vision
of Beirut -- in other words, the olive branch towards Israel in
practical terms -- and at the same time, having to deal with the
issues of security and terrorism.
And I hope that there is a lot of success in that meeting, that
allows the Arab countries to really step up to the plate, and move
forward with the responsibility that we need from them.