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Palestinians Get Rare Bush Meeting

Glenn Kessler - President Bush held a private 30-minute meeting in the Oval Office with a group of Palestinian officials last week, officials confirmed Tuesday. The impetus for the rare session was undersecretary of state and presidential confidante Karen Hughes, who had received complaints about the administration's Palestinian policy during her recent tour of the Middle East. During Hughes's trip to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey, she told reporters she was surprised Bush had not received more credit for his efforts on establishing a Palestinian state. The flabbergasted Palestinian officials - who were in Washington preparing for the White House visit of Mahmoud Abbas on Oct. 20 and had expected to meet only with an assistant secretary of state - were told to come to the White House and meet with the president. ''I was absolutely surprised," said Diana Buttu, a legal adviser to Abbas. ''They said, 'The president wants to see you,' and I said, 'The president of what?'" At the meeting with Bush, when the Palestinians contended that Israeli settlement expansion might make a state impossible to achieve, Buttu said Bush replied: ''Don't worry. I have some political sway with Israel and will use it if need be." Laura Bush also dropped in on the meeting. (Washington Post/Boston Globe)
2005-10-12 00:00:00
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