Associated Press

President Bush, right, shakes hands with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher during their meeting in the Oval Office yesterday in Washington.

Thursday September 27, 2001

WASHINGTON - President Bush said yesterday that upcoming security talks

between Israel and the Palestinian Authority were a hopeful sign. Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell said the talks set for tomorrow by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat could lead to shoring up a shattered truce and to peacemaking moves proposed by a panel headed by former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell.

"We're encouraged that there are discussions going on that could lead to the implementation of Mitchell," Bush told reporters. That, he said, would be "good for America, good for the Middle East and good for the world. And so we're hopeful."

The president said the Sept. 11 attacks on Washington and New York may help nudge along the peace process in the Middle East.

"People now realize this violence, this terrible destruction of human life, is not the correct path to follow," Bush said. "And hopefully people use this example, the incidents that took place on Sept. 11, to bring some reality to the Middle East."

Earlier, Powell said the new cooperation between the two sides might lead to tackling the key issues that have divided Israel and the Palestinians.

He said the lives of ordinary Palestinians could be improved as well. Under suicide attack and seeking to screen out terrorists, Israel has imposed tight restrictions on Palestinians on the West Bank and in Gaza. As a result, their economic conditions have suffered even though the United States is providing hundreds of millions of dollars yearly.

"I am pleased some progress was made," Powell said. "I hope we can move rapidly." After a meeting with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, he said, "We will begin to take a more active role as one meeting follows another."

Earlier, Powell spoke on the telephone to Arafat, Peres and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Most of the Arab world has clamored for a resumption of negotiations between the two sides, hopeful for territorial concessions by Israel.

Powell, in an interview with The Associated Press, Tuesday, said, "It is an especially charged environment."

He said the goal of the talks was one Sharon and Arafat shared - beginning to implement the peacemaking measures suggested by the Mitchell panel.

"It doesn't require Israel to be put back on its heels," Powell said. "This is what

Israel wanted."