Bush says Sharon keeping promise to withdraw Israeli troops

<br>WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Bush said Thursday that Israel is keeping its promise to withdraw troops from Palestinian cities and turned up the pressure on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to crack

Thursday, April 18th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Bush said Thursday that Israel is keeping its promise to withdraw troops from Palestinian cities and turned up the pressure on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to crack down on terrorism.

``Mr. Arafat did condemn terrorism and now we will hold him to account'' and demand that he take action against terrorists, Bush said. In unusually conciliatory remarks, Bush appeared to bless the pace of Israel's withdrawal _ which he had previously said should be conducted without delay _ and justify Israel's siege of Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah.

The president assessed the crisis in the Middle East in a meeting with Secretary of State Colin Powell, who returned hours earlier from a mission to the region. Joined by Vice President Dick Cheney, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and White House chief of staff Andrew Card, the president shrugged off criticism that Powell's mission had failed.

``One trip by the secretary of state will not prevent that from happening,'' Bush said, stressing his efforts to stem violence. ``But one trip by the secretary of state laid out the framework and path to achieve peace.''

``We will continue to do that,'' Bush said.

The president praised Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as ``a man of peace. I'm confident he wants Israel to be able to exist at peace with its neighbor.''

Two weeks after demanding that Israel withdraw its troops immediately, Bush said he was satisfied that Sharon was acting in good faith.

``History will show that they responded,'' Bush said. ``He gave me a timetable and he met the timetable.''

He said he understood why Israel was keeping troops in Bethlehem and in Ramallah.

Bush said the Israeli offensive on Ramallah is understandable because five suspects in last year's assassination of Israeli Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi are believed to be holed up in a basement inside Arafat's compound.

``I can understand why the prime minister wants them brought to justice. They should be brought to justice if they killed this man in cold blood,'' Bush said.

``These people are accused of killing a Cabinet official of the Israel government. I can understand why the prime minister wants them brought to justice,'' he said. ``They should be brought to justice if they killed a man in cold blood.''

Neither Bush or Powell said what steps they plan to build momentum from the secretary's trip. Powell said Arafat must ``not only denounce violence but take actions against those'' who commit terrorist acts.

Bush praised Powell of laying out a vision of hope for a region that was at a ``boiling point'' two weeks ago.

CIA Director George Tenet probably will go to the region next week, but a final decision will be made after Powell's White House meeting, an official said.

The United States hopes to ``restart the clock'' to conditions that were in place before the Passover bombing that killed 28 people in Netanya on March 27. It was after that suicide bombing that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sent troops and tanks into Palestinian-controlled cities, and the worst fighting of the 1 1/2-year-old Palestinian uprising has followed.

In the pre-March 27 plan, Israel would get a resumption of Tenet-led security talks, and the Palestinians would receive assurances that the political process is not far behind, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Another top official said the region will get a steady stream of visits from U.S. officials prodding the parties toward political and security negotiations.

Bush is trying to find a way to give Israel hope for an end to terror while giving Palestinians, in return, a reason to believe they will get their own state and land gains, the official said.

After Bush returned to the White House on Wednesday from his visit to Virginia, he met with Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, who urged Bush to continue Middle East peacemaking.

``We believe that without the help of the United States, the region is going to face a lot of problems,'' Hariri said.

Wednesday night, Vice President Dick Cheney made an appearance at an Israeli Embassy celebration of the 54th anniversary of Israeli independence.

Standing before hundreds assembled under tents, Cheney said, alluding to Powell's mission, ``We believe we are making progress.'' Numerous members of Congress attended.

Cheney recalled 11 years ago, when he was secretary of defense during the Persian Gulf War, and being comforted by the knowledge that Iraq did not have nuclear weapons to use against the U.S.-led coalition.

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein might have had such weapons had Israel not knocked out an Iraqi nuclear facility with an airstrike in 1981, Cheney said.