DATE=5/13/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= BUSH MIDEAST (S ONLY)

NUMBER=2-289741

BYLINE= PAULA WOLFSON

DATELINE= WHITE HOUSE

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: President Bush has reaffirmed his belief in the goal of a Palestinian state. The president's expression of support follows a controversial vote taken Sunday by Israel's Likud party. V-O-A's Paula Wolfson reports the party defied its leader, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and said it would never accept Palestinian statehood.

TEXT: White House Spokesman Ari Fleischer says President Bush still thinks the best route to peace is through the creation of a Palestinian state that can live side-by-side in security with Israel.

Mr. Fleischer told reporters traveling with the president to Chicago, Illinois that he would not comment on internal Israeli politics. But he said the Bush administration continues to believe that it can work with Ariel Sharon to achieve the goal of two states living in peace.

Mr. Sharon said during a visit to the White House last week that it was premature to talk about a Palestinian state. But he did not rule out discussions in the future.

However, the Likud party emphatically rejected the notion of a Palestinian state "west of the Jordan River." Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat responded to the news angrily. He said the party destroyed the Oslo Accords - - the peace agreements between Israel and the Palestinians that were signed in Norway in 1993. (signed)

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