UNGUARDED MOMENTS
On Camera but Unaware, Bush Displays His Fervor
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
HARM EL SHEIK, Egypt, June 3 - It was not surprising that President Bush
would get tough with the Israelis and Palestinians and demand that both get
their houses in order. What was surprising, because of an extraordinary
mistake by Egyptian television, was that Mr. Bush would be caught unawares
on camera today speaking about the Middle East with more bluntness, emotion
and religious fervor than had been heard before.
Anyone who has regularly watched Mr. Bush in speeches and news conferences
could tell in an instant that he had no idea that his remarks to five
moderate Arab leaders were being broadcast for public consumption. He was
colloquial, and referred to "Almighty God."
By late afternoon, Mr. Bush's aides acknowledged that the president had not
known the cameras were rolling as he spoke. Subsequently, White House
transcribers scrambled to record his comments from network tapes.
Speaking the direct language of a politician willing to take a dangerous
gamble - as long as the others were, too - Mr. Bush made his comments just
after he had spent 90 minutes in an unscheduled meeting with the five Arab
leaders, with only interpreters present.
"No matter how difficult it is, you have my commitment that I will expend
the energy and effort necessary to move the process forward," Mr. Bush told
the leaders as they gathered for a second meeting, this one with multiple
aides.
At one point the president turned to look directly at the new Palestinian
prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, a man in whom he had invested political
capital and was meeting for the first time. "You, sir, have got a
responsibility, and you've assumed it," the president said. "I want to work
with you, as do the other leaders here. We must not allow a few people, a
few killers, a few terrorists, to destroy the dreams and the hopes of the
many."
With that, Mr. Bush turned his attention to Israel, particularly its prime
minister, Ariel Sharon, who was not at the table, but will be on Wednesday
in Jordan.
"Israel has got responsibilities," Mr. Bush said. "Israel must deal with the
settlements. Israel must make sure there's a continuous territory that
Palestinians call home." (The White House, which late in the day produced a
transcript of Mr. Bush's remarks, put the word "contiguous" in parentheses
after "continuous," to indicate that "contiguous" was what Mr. Bush had
meant.)
For Mr. Bush, the stop in this jewel of a manufactured oasis on the edge of
Bedouin lands was his first big step into the Middle East conflict. Few knew
precisely what had occurred between Mr. Bush and the five Arab leaders,
because they did not even allow in note-takers. Rarely has Mr. Bush gone so
solo. Afterward, the five leaders pledged they would fight the "culture of
extremism and violence" that has undercut peace, and act to control the flow
of money to terrorist groups.
Mr. Bush sat at a round table with his host, President Hosni Mubarak of
Egypt. Joining them were Mr. Abbas, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia,
King Abdullah II of Jordan and King Hamad of Bahrain.
Mr. Bush won good reviews on his performance from Arab leaders, who
expressed relief and gratitude that he had at last come to their region. His
goal today was to enlist support of the Arab leaders behind Mr. Abbas, also
known as Abu Mazen, whom he wants to promote as the leader of the
Palestinians over the administration's nemesis, Yasir Arafat. In one moment
caught by an Egyptian TV camera, Mr. Bush and Mr. Abbas could be seen
smiling and talking to each other off to the side of the other leaders and
officials.
"By the time the lunch was over, they looked like they were old pals from a
long time ago," said a high-ranking Saudi official. "The ability of the
president to move from different personalities to different types of
people - if it was never tested before, it was certainly tested today." The
president, the Saudi official said, had shown his "seriousness" about the
process.
So far, Mr. Bush has shown no signs of fatigue or impatience on this
seven-day, six-nation journey, as he did on a trip to Europe a year ago. One
difference is that this time Mr. Bush is the victor of the war in Iraq, more
in control, with far more power to wield. He also appears to be having a
good time: This afternoon he grinned as he drove Mr. Mubarak by golf cart
from the Four Seasons Hotel to an outdoor news conference on a bluff
overlooking the sea, where the president was then seen to kiss King Hamad on
both cheeks.
Mr. Bush was also evidently comfortable enough to talk to the Arabs about
his own religion. "I believe that, as I told the Crown Prince, the Almighty
God has endowed each individual on the face of the earth with - that expects
each person to be treated with dignity," Mr. Bush said in the remarks that
he did not know were being broadcast. "This is a universal call. It's the
call of all religions, that each person must be free and treated with
respect."
It is with that call, Mr. Bush concluded, "that I feel passionate about the
need to move forward."