Iraq returns West Asia to Bush horizon

The central factor in Bush’s decision to announce the plan, officials said, was an entreaty from British Prime Minister Tony Blair to demonstrate that the Americans cared about more issues in West Asia than the forced disarmament of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

Bush’s abrupt statement on the eve of an increasingly likely war was welcomed as long overdue by diplomats in the region and beyond. But they questioned the timing and warned that Bush must invest significant political capital if the effort is to increase his credibility and yield results.

US officials said President Bush preferred to wait until the confrontation with Iraq was over, but he wanted to help Blair, who is facing significant political opposition for his pro-war position.

Bush seized on the recent naming of the first Palestinian PM, Mahmoud Abbas, as the motivation to move forward.

Speaking shortly after Bush made his remarks, Blair said he hoped the formal release of the document would assuage people who have demanded that the US and Britain demonstrate they are ‘‘prepared to care and work as much for a resolution of the Palestinian issue.’’

‘‘We are right to focus on Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction,’’ Blair said in London, ‘‘but we must put equal focus on the plight of the people whose lives are being devastated by a lack of progress in the West Asia peace process: Israeli civilians who die in acts of terrorism, and Palestinians living and dying in appalling conditions of suffering.’’

Bush made his first substantial remarks on the crisis in months in a February 26 speech, when he said Palestinians must reduce terror before Israel will be expected to take ‘‘concrete steps to support the emergence of a viable and credible Palestinian state.’’ (LATWP)