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. Bush Considering Possibility of Three Way Mideast Summit .

. Middle East - Israel & Palestine - US - @Crawford Texas - Road Plan Agreement VOA -- 23 May 2003, 18:23 UTC David Gollust State Department x x

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President Bush said Friday he is exploring the possibility of a three-way meeting with the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers to try to expedite progress on the international "road map" for Middle East peace. Mr. Bush spoke after an agreement that apparently ends Israel's holdout against accepting the peace plan. 

The Bush administration, after high-level talks this week with a senior envoy of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, has publicly committed itself to "fully and seriously" address Israel's concerns about the international "road map" to Middle East pace.

 The announcement is expected to lead to the Israeli cabinet's acceptance of the peace plan, perhaps as soon as its next meeting on Sunday. It may also trigger stepped-up U.S. diplomacy in the region including a three-way summit involving President Bush, Mr. Sharon, and the new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen.
 
 

AP
Japan's Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, listens, as President Bush speaks during a joint news conference on Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, Friday

In a talk with reporters in Crawford, Texas with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, President Bush said Mr. Sharon agreed to accept the "road map" after he assured him of the U.S. commitment to Israel's security, and promised to "address any concerns that might arise" regarding Israel's security as peace efforts move forward.

 Mr. Bush confirmed that the idea of a three-way summit is being examined. News reports have said the President might add a stop in the Middle East for the summit to the European trip he is due to begin late next week.

 "I'm exploring the opportunities as to whether or not I should meet with Prime Minister Abu Mazen as well as Prime Minister Sharon," the president said. " If a meeting advances progress toward two states living side-by-side in peace, I will strongly consider such a meeting. I'm committed to working toward peace in the Middle East."

 Though the new Palestinian leader endorsed the "road map" upon its release April 30, Mr. Sharon had refused to do so without a cessation of Palestinian terror attacks against Israelis, like the suicide bombings which prompted him to cancel a critical Washington visit this week.
 
 

AP
Colin Powell

Arab leaders had warned the United States against altering the "road map" to accommodate Israeli reservations. At a Paris news conference Friday with other G8 foreign ministers, Secretary of State Colin Powell stressed that the peace plan the product of months of work by U.S., Russian, European Union and United Nations diplomats would not be changed. 

"We have told the Israeli government that we would take their comments into consideration and address them fully and seriously as we went forward in the implementation of the road map," secretary powell said. " But this does not require us to change the road map. It is a good document that leads to the President's vision of two states, living in peace, side-by-side, the vision that I think all of us here hold."

 The document calls for a series of corresponding security and political steps by Israel and the Palestinians leading to a final settlement providing for full Palestinian statehood and Arab-wide recognition of Israel by the end of 2005.

 The plan is already close to being behind schedule. The first phase of the program, calling for among other things a freeze on Israeli settlement activity and an unconditional cessation of Palestinian violence, is supposed to be completed by the end of this month. 

President Bush made telephone appeals for action for the "road map" to both Mr. Sharon and Prime Minister Abbas earlier this week, and Wednesday he had his first meeting with a member of the new Palestinian cabinet, Finance Minister Salam Fayyad.
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Sharon Ready to Accept US Backed Peace Plan

No Major Changes to Mideast 'Road Map' Says Powell

US to Address Israeli Concerns About 'Road Map' Peace Plan

Explosion Rocks Israeli Bus Despite Efforts to Promote 'Road Map' Peace Plan

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. Canada faces double blow .

. Americas - Canada - @Toronto Ontario - More SARS BBC -- Friday, 23 May, 2003, 20:24 GMT 21:24 UK x x

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Breaking News: Later on Friday 2 more Canadians reported dead from SARS.

Canada thought the outbreak was nearly over

Canada is confronting what appears to be a fresh outbreak of the Sars virus as it simultaneously contends with the first case of mad cow disease in more than a decade.

Four possible new cases of the respiratory virus were reported in Toronto on Friday, just 10 days after the World Health Organization took the city off its list of SARS affected areas.

Meanwhile some 13 farms have been quarantined in an effort to trace the source of the first known case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or BSE, in ten years.

Toronto's tourism industry has already been badly hit by the Sars virus, and there are fears that the country's lucrative beef industry may similarly suffer from the impact of BSE.

Bans on Canadian beef have already been imposed by several countries, including by the United States, Canada's major market for exported beef and cattle. 

Isolation efforts

Toronto had been optimistic about controlling the Sars outbreak, with Friday's new cases the first in more than a month.

Two of the suspected victims, a 39-year-old woman and a 57-year-old man, are in a critical condition in Toronto.

It is either travel related or health care institution related  Barbara Yaffe Associate Medical Officer of Health

"They have no clear epidemiological link. It is not clear what the source of the infection was," said Toronto's Associate Medical Officer of Health, Barbara Yaffe.

One of the suspected sufferers had returned from China at the end of April.

"What we are clear about is that it was not community acquired. It is either travel related or health care institution related," Ms Yaffe added.

There have also been unconfirmed reports in Toronto of a fifth potential case.

Officials and are working to isolate people who passed through a Toronto hospital during an 11-day period.

There had been great optimism in Canada, with the number of active Sars cases dropping to eight from more than 140 at its peak.

The lifting of the WHO's travel warning on 30 April had been a major boost after its negative effects.

Conventions had been cancelled, with hotels and restaurants suffering, and the Bank of Canada fearing the drop in business activity could lower overall economic growth. 

BSE blow

Now Canada's beef industry also faces difficulties as it battles to bolster confidence in the face of BSE fears.

The disease cost the British farming industry and government billions with many cattle slaughtered and beef exports banned.

With 13 farms in three provinces under quarantine, investigators admit they are not close to finding the source of the case.

A non-thoroughbred Black Angus cow in Alberta, which had been killed in late January, was confirmed to have BSE on Tuesday.

There is some token of optimism as no signs of the disease have been found in other cattle.

The diseased cow was thought to have been born either six or eight years ago, before the advent of strict new controls.

The cow would be North America's first case of domestically-contracted BSE if it turns out to have been born in Canada.

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. Central European Leaders Agree to Resolve Differences Over Iraq .

. Europe - Central Europe (17 Nations) - @Salzburg summit VOA -- 23 May 2003, 17:48 UTC Melanie Sully Vienna x x

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AP
From left, German President Johannes Rau, Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, Ukranian President Leonid Kuchma

Central European heads of state have agreed to resolve differences and work with the United States on Iraq and other issues. 

Seventeen presidents from central, southern and eastern Europe met in Salzburg for a two-day summit to discuss "Europe Beyond Enlargement". 

The host is Austrian president Thomas Klestil, a former ambassador to Washington. Mr. Klestil said the European Union should develop a common foreign policy. 

Transatlantic relations and the splits in Europe over the Iraq war occupied much of the agenda for the heads of state. German president, Johannes Rau, said he felt part of old Europe.

 "I like to be part of old Europe because old Europe was always open for the new, otherwise there would never have been any new Europe," he said.

 President Rau was referring to a comment made some months ago by U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, who called Iraq war opponents Germany and France part of old Europe.

 On Friday, the European presidents agreed that the continent and the United States share the same values of freedom and democracy. President Klestil said they must work together in spite of their differences on issues where they agree, like the fight against international terrorism.

 "Close collaboration between Europe and the United States is of the utmost importance," the president said.

 This sentiment was endorsed by all the participants.

 Polish president Aleksander Kwasniewski, a strong U.S. supporter, said Europe must be strong, but must also be a friend of the United States.

 "European policy cannot be against the U.S.," he said.

 Next month Poland votes in a referendum on joining the European Union. 

The Salzburg summit was attended by the presidents of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Rumania, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Slovenia the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Hungary and Austria. 

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. Congress Approves $350 Billion Tax Cut Package .

. Americas - USA - @Washington Senate - Tax Cut Vote VOA -- 23 May 2003, 20:19 UTC Deborah Tate Capitol Hill Listen to Deborah Tate's report (RealAudio)  Tate report - Download 204k (RealAudio)  x x

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The U.S. Congress has given final approval to a $350 billion tax cut package. It is less than half of what President Bush initially sought, but supporters say it is enough to boost the stagnant economy.

AP
Vice President Dick Cheney after casting the decisive vote in the U.S. Senate

Just hours after the House of Representatives passed the bill on a 231 to 200 vote mostly along party lines, the Senate followed suit by a vote of 51 to 50, with Vice President Dick Cheney breaking the tie. The bill now goes to President Bush for his signature.

 Republicans who had hoped for a larger tax cut package said the scaled down plan would still be beneficial. 

"I think even with these modest tax cuts we are going to spur the economy," commented Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas.

 Democratic opponents, including Senator Mark Dayton of Minnesota, said the bill would cause the national debt to soar, and benefit mostly the wealthy. He said "These are reductions targeted right toward the rich and the super-rich, the wealthiest five percent, the wealthiest one-percent of Americans." 

The measure would lower taxes on capital gains and stock dividends over the next five years and accelerate scheduled federal income tax cuts. Some $20 billion would go to the states, which are in financial trouble. In addition, small businesses would get tax breaks to expand their operations or invest in new equipment. 

The U.S. Congress has given final approval to a $350 billion tax cut package. It is less than half of what President Bush initially sought, but supporters say it is enough to boost the stagnant economy. Correspondent Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

 Just hours after the House of Representatives passed the bill on a 231 to 200 vote mostly along party lines, the Senate followed suit by a vote of 51 to 50, with Vice President Dick Cheney breaking the tie. The bill now goes to President Bush for his signature.

 Republicans who had hoped for a larger tax cut package said the scaled down plan would still be beneficial. 

"I think even with these modest tax cuts we are going to spur the economy," commented Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas.

 Democratic opponents, including Senator Mark Dayton of Minnesota, said the bill would cause the national debt to soar, and benefit mostly the wealthy. He said "These are reductions targeted right toward the rich and the super-rich, the wealthiest five percent, the wealthiest one-percent of Americans." 

The measure would lower taxes on capital gains and stock dividends over the next five years and accelerate scheduled federal income tax cuts. Some $20 billion would go to the states, which are in financial trouble. In addition, small businesses would get tax breaks to expand their operations or invest in new equipment. 

President Bush, keenly aware that economic woes hurt his father's re-election bid in 1992, hopes the tax cut plan will help his re-election chances next year.
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Bush Hails Tax Bill During Capitol Hill Visit

US Senate Passes Scaled Down Tax Cut Bill

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. Contents of Defend America Page .

. DoD -- Logged Friday, 23-May-2003 x x

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