Bush cautiously welcomes Olmert's West Bank plan

Washington, May 24 : President George W. Bush cautiously embraced what he called Israeli leader Ehud Olmert's ''bold ideas'' for the future of the West Bank but said talks with the Palestinians were preferable to unilateral moves.

The president's comments, after a White House summit with Olmert, opened the door for the prime minister to lay the groundwork for his plan to redraw the Jewish settlement map in the occupied territory with or without Palestinian agreement.

At a news conference, Bush also repeated a pledge to come to Israel's aid if it was attacked, a promise Israeli commentators have termed a subtle warning not to take military action against arch-enemy Iran in the current nuclear crisis.

Olmert won a March election, calling for the removal of remote Jewish settlements in the West Bank while keeping larger enclaves and imposing a border if peace efforts remain frozen.

Palestinians, now under a government led by the Islamic militant group Hamas, have condemned the plan, saying it would deny them a viable state.

''Today, Prime Minister Olmert shared with me some of his ideas. I would call them bold ideas,'' Bush said, raising the possibility they could serve as an alternative if there was no progress soon on a US-sponsored peace ''road map.'' Bush, possibly wary of alienating Arab and European allies, repeated that Washington preferred a negotiated settlement in West Asis.

''I believe, and Prime Minister Olmert agrees, that a negotiated final-status agreement best serves the Israelis and the Palestinians and the cause of peace,'' Bush said.

In a briefing later to reporters who accompanied him from Israel to Washington, Olmert said, ''I am very, very, very satisfied with the president's comments.''

COMFORT LEVEL

A US official said Washington's ''comfort level has increased in this visit,'' Olmert's first to the capital since taking office. The official suggested Olmert would aim to put his plan into motion in the final 2-1/2 years of Bush's term. West Asia diplomacy has slipped down the agenda as Bush confronts low approval ratings, an increasingly unpopular war in Iraq and an emerging nuclear challenge from Iran.

Olmert, leader of the centrist Kadima Party, would also need support for his plan in the Israeli parliament, where he governs by a slim majority. He faces fierce opposition by ultranationalists who claim a biblical right to the West Bank.

In comments likely to please Washington, Olmert said he would meet ''in the near future'' with moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

''We hope that he will have the power to be able to meet the requirements necessary for negotiations between us and the Palestinians. How soon it will be -- the sooner the better,'' Olmert said, referring to road-map obligations to disarm militant groups.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat, speaking to Reuters in the West Bank, said, ''President Abbas is fully ready to open final status negotiations to implement the road map.'' A Hamas spokesman, Sami Abu Zuhri, said in Gaza that Bush had voiced encouragement for an Israeli go-it-alone plan that would spell ''liquidation of the Palestinian cause.'' The United States and Israel say Hamas must renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept past interim peace deals.

Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, says talks with the Jewish state would be a waste of time.

Washington has led an international boycott of aid to the Hamas-led government. With hardship mounting in the West Bank and Gaza, Olmert said Israel would make arrangements to supply humanitarian aid to the Palestinians.

In his briefing to reporters, Olmert said he would meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah next month and visit Britain, France and Germany. He has said he hopes to pursue his West Bank plan with international backing.

Olmert addresses a joint meeting of Congress today before flying home.

Reuters