President Bush meets with Saudi, Egyptian and Jordanian Foreign Ministers

President George W. Bush met with Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmad Maher and Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Al-Muasher at the White House in Washington, DC, on July 18 for talks on the Middle East peace process. The meeting was also attended by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice and Saudi Arabian Ambassador to the United States Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz.

Welcoming the three Arab foreign ministers in a statement prior to meeting with them, President Bush observed that his vision of peace in the Middle East is focused on the existence of two states, Palestine and Israel, living side by side in peace and security, and stressed that this vision takes into account the human sufferings of the Palestinian people. He stressed that the Israelis as well as the Palestinians share responsibilities for realizing peace, as do the United States and other states of the region.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Prince Saud commented: "We were very pleased and very heartened that he laid equal responsibilities on both sides." He went on to describe the talks as "excellent and encouraging."

A joint statement issued by Prince Saud and Ministers Maher and Al-Muasher declared: "Our presence in Washington comes within the framework of the committee on the Arab peace initiative that was endorsed by the [League of] Arab States during their summit meeting [ on March 28, 2002]  in Beirut. We have urged President Bush to make [this initiative] as part of the peace plan because it describes and defines the final solution towards achieving peace in the Middle East." 

President Bush, Prince Saud said, had reaffirmed the United States’ commitment towards the final fulfillment of the Mideast peace process, and had emphasized that efforts towards peace are moving on three parallel tracks, political, security and economic. Welcoming President Bush’s determination to move towards peace until its realization, Prince Saud confirmed that the Arab leaders had reasserted the commitment of all Arab states to the peace process, especially that of the Palestinians, who have been working hard to reach a peaceful settlement.

In reply to a question about the U.S. administration’s view of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, Prince Saud referred to President Bush’s statement prior to the talks in which he remarked that the issue of peace is larger than the involvement of one person, and that the talks would focus on how to build the constitutional institutions that could represent the real will of the Palestinian people.