Bush Urges Withdrawal From W. Bank

WASHINGTON--President Bush, opening a week of intensive talks on the Middle East, met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak yesterday and urged an end to Israel's occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

After more than an hour of discussion, Bush endorsed the "achievement of Palestinian political rights" and said a "properly structured" international peace conference could play a useful role. He said "a new atmosphere" must be created between Israel and Arab nations.

The tone of Bush's remarks suggested the United States may attempt to exert pressure for compromise on Israeli Prime Minister Titzhak Shamir, who arrives in the U.S. tomorrow and confers with Bush on Thursday.

Shamir's government has opposed any settlement based on trading land for peace, and has been deeply skeptical about any international conference.

Mubarak, standing alongside Bush at a ceremony in the Rose Garden, said, "We found ourselves in agreement on most issues at stake."

Bush did not specify whether his administration was demanding total Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Nor did he define what he meant by a "properly structured" international conference, although a senior U.S. official said Bush emphasized "the key factor of direct negotiations in any peace process."

U.S. policy on the occupied territories has been to urge Israel to trade land for peace while leaving open the possibility of Israel retaining some of the land for security reasons.

In his talks with Bush, Mubarak rejected Shamir's suggestion for elections among Palestinians to find leaders who would negotiate their future with Israel, according to a senior U.S. official. Mubarak said elections under Israeli supervision were unacceptable to the Palestinians, the official added.

Rather than let the idea drop, Bush asked Mubarak if other forms of supervision would be acceptable, the official said, refusing to discuss the matter further or to be identified.

In a gesture of friendship after the formal talks at the White House, Bush took Mubarak to Baltimore for the opening day of the baseball season and a game between the Orioles and the Boston Red Sox. Bush left his guest briefly to throw out the first ball.

Mubarak was also the president's guest at a White House dinner last night.

The 15-month Palestinian uprising in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and Israel's tough tactics in dealing with it have created pressure on the search for a peace settlement.

"We share a sense of urgency to move toward a comprehensive settlement through direct negotiations," Bush said.

"A new atmosphere must be created where Israelis and Arabs feel each other's willingness to compromise so that both sides can win," Bush said.

"Violence can give way to dialogue once both sides understand that the dialogue will offer political gain," he said. "Egypt and the United States share the goals of security for Israel, the end of the occupation and achievement of Palestinian political rights."

Endorsing one of Mubarak's principal proposals, Bush said that a "properly structure international conference could play a useful role at an appropriate time."