June 11, 2002	Tuesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 29, 1423

WASHINGTON, June 10: US President George W. Bush on Monday dismissed Palestinian political reforms as inadequate and endorsed Israel’s latest military action in Palestinian-held lands as he met Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

“No one has confidence in the emerging Palestinian government,” Bush said during a joint public appearance at the White House with Sharon after Israeli forces again besieged Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s headquarters.

“Israel has a right to defend herself,” the US leader said after the raid forced Arafat to cancel the first meeting of his new cabinet, announced on Sunday in a bid to restore international confidence in his leadership.

The prime minister, who headed into his sixth meeting with Bush eager to bolster Israel’s case for completely sidelining Arafat, said Israelis “don’t see yet a partner” among the Palestinians for pursuing peace.

“We hope there will be a partner there with whom we’ll be able to move forward, first, to achieve a durable peace in the area and, second, of course, to provide security to the citizens of our countries,” said Sharon.

Sharon’s visit came amid growing signs that Washington, while not embracing his call for shunning Arafat, is reaching past him to other Palestinian leaders in hopes of winning sweeping political and security reforms.

“I don’t think Mr. Arafat’s the issue. I think the issue is the Palestinian people. And as I have expressed myself, I’m disappointed that he has not led in such a way that the Palestinian people have hope and confidence,” said Bush.

“What we’ve got to do is work to put institutions in place which will allow for a government to develop, which will bring confidence not only to the Israelis, but the Palestinians,” said the US president.

Asked about a proposed ministerial-level Middle East peace conference, Bush replied: “The conditions aren’t even there yet. That’s because no one has confidence in the emerging Palestinian government.”

“First things first, and that is, what institutions are necessary to give the Palestinian people hope and to give the Israelis confidence that the emerging government will be someone with whom they can deal?” he said.

“That’s going to require security steps, transparency when it comes to economic matters, anti-corruption devices, rule of law enforced by a court system,” said the US president.

Bush’s meeting with Sharon came after the president’s weekend talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, after which the US leader rebuffed his guest’s push for a specific timetable for declaring a Palestinian state.

“We’re not ready to lay down a specific calendar except for the fact we need to get started quickly, soon, so that we can seize the moment,” Bush said at a joint news conference with Mubarak at the Camp David retreat near here.

White House spokesman Ari Fleischer billed Bush’s recent diplomatic flurry — Jordan’s King Abdullah was here on May 8 — as “listening” to leaders often starkly at odds on how to revive the ailing Middle East peace process.

Bush “views his mission as finding a solution that unites those pieces of advice that he is given,” Fleischer said Monday, adding: “The purpose of American diplomacy is to find a way to bring the parties together.”

The president himself has said he will make a public statement of some sort on US policy towards the violence-wracked region after his meeting with Sharon, their sixth since Bush took office in January last year.