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CNN Sunday Morning

Bush Prepares to Meet with Sharon

Aired May 05, 2002 - 09:05   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In Washington, President Bush is preparing to meet with Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon this week. CNN's senior White House correspondent John King joins us live with an update. Hi, John.

JOHN KING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Kyra. High stakes diplomacy for the president this week. The Israeli prime minister on his way to Washington from Israel. Jordan's King Abdullah will follow. Aerial Sharon to Washington. President Bush trying to create some momentum out of what modest, what the White House believes some progress in recent days in the Middle East.

Prime Minister Sharon comes with some ideas of his own. Some of them not so keenly viewed at the White House. No. 1, Prime Minister Sharon wants to create more security, more buffer zones, if you will, between the Israelis and Palestinians. The White House view is that that is not a good way to build trust at the moment. What everyone here at the White House believes is needed most.

The prime minister will come we are told, with plans for his own version of a Palestinian state. The White House says that they there are likely to be some disagreements but they view that as hopeful. The Saudis have a plan on the table. There are the plans that were left over at the end of the Clinton Administration still to be considered. And so the Israelis will have a plan.

The problem for the president is trying to reconcile all this. The plans are in the works for a peace conference or a minister ministerial conference in June. Mr. Bush trying to test how willing Ariel Sharon is to discuss peace with the Palestinians or whether the interest, as many Arabs suspect, is just on short term security improvements -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: John, Sharon said that Arafat's a terrorist and he can't deal with him. What's the administration's approach?

KING: That is the threshold problem at the moment. The Saudis have a peace plan, U.S. has ideas, the Israelis have ideas, others have ideas. But the two parties that have to make peace would be the Israelis and the Palestinian let right now by Ariel Sharon and Yasser Arafat, two men who don't like or trust each other. So one goal of the president's conversations with Prime Minister Sharon this week is to say, I understand you don't like your neighbor. I understand you don't trust your neighbor, but he is your neighbor. If you're going to make peace, you have to deal with him. That has been the Bush Administration's policy. This president says he does not trust Yasser Arafat, but he has to dear with him, that will be the message to Ariel Sharon as well.

PHILLIPS: All right, John King, live from the White House, thank you.

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