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Bush calls on Israel to dismantle wildcat settlements
AFP, January 4,
2008
JERUSALEM, Jan
4, 2008 (AFP) - US President George W. Bush called on Israel
to dismantle wildcat settlement outposts on occupied
Palestinian land, in an interview published on Friday ahead
of his visit to the region next week.
"We expect them
to honour their commitments," Bush said in the interview
with Israel's mass-selling Yediot Aharonot daily.
"The Israeli
government has said that they're going to get rid of
unauthorised settlements, and that's what we expect. That's
what we've been told," he said, according to an
English-language transcript of the interview provided by the
newspaper.
Asked whether
he supported Israel retaining some of its large settlement
blocs in the occupied West Bank under a final-status
agreement, Bush said: "Both understand, as well, that I said
conditions on the ground, the realities of the situation
will help determine what... the borders look like."
"But the
unauthorised settlements, which is different from authorised
settlements, is an issue we've been very clear on."
Wildcat
outposts are Israeli settlements established in the West
Bank without government permission. The international
community considers all Israeli settlements on occupied
Palestinian land as illegal.
The issue of
Israeli settlements is one of the most divisive issues of
the decades-long Middle East conflict and has been the
leading source of discord since the two sides revived peace
talks after nearly a seven-year hiatus in late November.
Bush said he
was embarking on his first trip to the region while
president "to help boost the confidence of both parties to
reach out for a vision."
"I'm also going
to the Arab world.... to convince the Arab nations that
Israel is a partner -- should be a partner in peace; that
this vision is in the interests not only of Israel and the
Palestinians, but it's in the interests of the Arab world."
"The American
president can help move the process forward by reminding
friends and allies in the Middle East about the importance
of the two-state solution and what they can do to help."
His talks in
the region will also touch on the issue of Iran, he said,
saying he would "spend time talking about the strategic
implications of a US presence in a way that bolsters
governments and at the same time helps serve as a bulwark
against aggressive regimes such as Iran."
The United
States is leading a campaign in the West against Iran's
nuclear programme which it fears could be a cover for
ambitions to build atomic weapons.
Bush is set to
spend three days in Israel and the Palestinian territories
beginning next Wednesday in the first visit here by a
sitting US president in nine years, following his
predecessor Bill Clinton's trip in December 1998.
The visit is
part of a January 8-16 trip to the Middle East that aims to
push along the peace talks with an eye on creating an
independent Palestinian state before Bush leaves office in
January 2009. |
