Bush: Solution for Palestinian refugees - in Palestinian state

In a historic statement, US president George W. Bush said today that the solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees “will need to be found through the establishment of a Palestinian state and the settling of Palestinian refugees there, rather than Israel." Bush was speaking at the end of his meeting with Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon at the White House in Washington.

Bush called Sharon’s decision to pull back from the Gaza strip and evacuate some settlements on the West Bank, “historic and courageous.” He called on the Palestinians and Arab states to make their own courageous move, and said the Palestinians had to insist on change and on a leadership that would open up the way to an end to the dispute with Israel.

On the borders of a future Palestinian state, Bush said it was unrealistic to expect that Israel would withdraw to the 1949 ceasefire line.

Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on April 14, 2004