Bush threatens to Arafat sanctions

The American president ignored the critics of his allies to his proposal to separate to the Palestinian head from the government

CALGARY. - In spite of the strong reserves of most of his allies in Europe, the president of the United States, George W. Bush, intensified yesterday the pressure on the Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, and threatened retaining aid to the Palestinians unless he adopts the radical political, economic reforms and of security that he demanded, among them the one to choose new leaders.

The initiative for the Middle East of the American president, announced Monday in Washington, was received with skepticism by its European allies yesterday in the summit of the Group of the Eight (G-8), in Kananaskis, Canada. Most of the leaders of the European Union, including the greater ally of Bush, Tony Blair, opposite was the displacement of Arafat, and considers that they are Palestinian those that must choose their leaders.

Thus, the situation in the middle East moved other subjects that were in the agenda of the summit of the seven rich countries but of the world - the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan more Russia, as the fight against the terrorism and the aid for the development of Africa.

In his speech of Monday, Bush was determined to separate to Arafat in any peace accord for the Middle East, when declaring that the Palestinians must choose new leaders who "are not it jeopardize with the terror" before they can have an own State. He was further on and he said yesterday that its country will not give money "to a society that is not opened and is corrupt". The United States does not grant direct aid to Autoridad Nacional Palestine (ANP), but canalizes by means of the UN and several nongovernmental organizations.

You cold answers that the policy of Bush from the leaders of the European Union received and of the United Nations they did not call so much the attention as the spacing of Blair, ally of the United States in the fight against the terrorism. It is the first time that London and the Washingtons are in discord from the beginning of second "intifada" (rise) Palestine, in last September.

Blair, that met yesterday with Bush in private before the beginning of the summit, insisted on the point of view showed by the European countries and Canada about which "it corresponds to the Palestinians to choose his leaders". Nevertheless, British prime minister also indicated that a serious interlocutor "to the front makes lack" of the Palestinian government, as much to undertake negotiations of peace with Israel like reforming the present Palestine administration.

Between the unofficial critics from London to the plan of Bush also the lack of a clear calendar for the creation of a Palestinian State stands out, the deficiency of an exhortation to the Israeli retirement of Cisjordania and the absence of initiatives to send international supervisors to the Middle East.

In as much, the minister of Outer Subjects of Canada, Bill Graham, affirmed yesterday that the government of his country considers "very important that they are they (the Palestinians) who choose their leaders", while its German pair, Joschka Fischer, affirmed that "the Palestinian town will be the unique one that decides who is its legitimate leader". In the same line, the French president, Jacques Chirac, said that "naturally he corresponds to him to the Palestinian town, and only to them, to choose its representatives".

On the other hand, the Palestinians called yesterday to the leaders of the G-8 to take part before Bush so that present true proposals of peace and are not limited to give vague "points of view".

Bush insists on which a new leadership arisen from democratic elections stops to create a Palestinian State is necessary, constitutional and economic reforms, as well as a committee of international donors whom the action of institutions accused of corrupt use of the outer aid supervises.

The summit of the G-8 will conclude today in Kananaskis, a mountain village protected by thousands of antiaircraft soldiers, missiles, armored vehicles and fighter bombers and moved away of the protests that are made in the city of Calgary, located to 110 kilometers of there.

Yesterday, about two thousand demonstrators of diverse organizations antiglobalización blocked some of the main streets of downtown, without causing more disturbances than transit problems to vehicular.