SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt - At the start of his Mideast trip, President Bush gave Israel glowing praise. As it ended on Sunday, the president gave the Arab world a stern lecture: Isolate state sponsors of terror and give citizens more freedoms.
¢Too often in the Middle East, politics has consisted of one leader in power and the opposition in jail,’ Bush said at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. ¢The time has come for nations across the Middle East to abandon these practices, and treat their people with the dignity and respect they deserve.’
Bush's address to hundreds of global policymakers and business leaders gathered in this Red Sea beach town was his finishing touch on a five-day Mideast trip to Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The speech, and Bush's second Mideast trip of the year, came eight months before the end of his presidency, his target date for reaching a sweeping peace agreement that would resolve generations-old grievances and create a Palestinian state.
The president counseled Arab states to ¢move past their old resentments against Israel’ and ¢invest aggressively’ in the Palestinian people, what he views as their role in the process. In contrast, many Arabs think Bush leans too far Israel's way in the long-running Mideast dispute, and that Washington doesn't push Israel hard enough to give way on issues that anger Palestinians and stymie a deal.
¢Too often in the Middle East, politics has consisted of one leader in power and the opposition in jail,’ Bush said at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East. ¢The time has come for nations across the Middle East to abandon these practices, and treat their people with the dignity and respect they deserve.’
Bush's address to hundreds of global policymakers and business leaders gathered in this Red Sea beach town was his finishing touch on a five-day Mideast trip to Egypt, Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The speech, and Bush's second Mideast trip of the year, came eight months before the end of his presidency, his target date for reaching a sweeping peace agreement that would resolve generations-old grievances and create a Palestinian state.
The president counseled Arab states to ¢move past their old resentments against Israel’ and ¢invest aggressively’ in the Palestinian people, what he views as their role in the process. In contrast, many Arabs think Bush leans too far Israel's way in the long-running Mideast dispute, and that Washington doesn't push Israel hard enough to give way on issues that anger Palestinians and stymie a deal.
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