Wednesday, June 26, 2002

Bush, in Canada, Is Facing Skepticism on Arafat's Role
France, Germany and the European Union all criticized some aspects of Mr. Bush's approach before their leaders arrived here, even while praising the president for setting a loose timeline of three years for the creation of a Palestinian state and for calling for Israel's eventual withdrawal to its pre-1967 borders.

But it was clear that Mr. Bush, who obviously hoped for an endorsement of his Mideast approach by the leaders here, will have to argue his case. "I would not be surprised if the leaders discussed with the president their thoughts about the speech," Mr. Fleischer said.

Among the skeptics it is clear he will have to convince is Kofi Annan, the United Nations secretary general, who is due here late on Wednesday. Mr. Annan warned today that the American insistence on free elections among the Palestinian people could easily backfire. "You could find yourself in a situation that the radicals are the ones that get elected, and it would be the result of a democratic process and we have to accept that," Mr. Annan said.

President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, who will join the political discussions here but not the economic strategy sessions, said before he left Moscow that it would be "dangerous and mistaken" to remove Mr. Arafat because doing so "would only radicalize the Palestinian movement."

What makes the dynamic at this meeting potentially the most interesting, though, is that Mr. Bush and the rest of the leaders will be arguing not only over Mideast policy, but also over a broad agenda of other differences that were submerged for months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

At the summit meeting last year in Genoa, Mr. Bush and his allies promised to pick up the pieces on their differences over the Kyoto protocol on global warming, but in the year since there has been little progress.

Trade tensions have worsened: European leaders made it clear they believe Mr. Bush has turned his back on his commitment to free markets by blocking steel imports and raising subsidies to farmers.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/06/26/international/middleeast/26PREX.html

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