Bush, Rice pray for Sharon

2006-01-05 09:06

Washington - The US administration prayed on Wednesday for the recovery of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, a key ally whose massive stroke further clouded an already faltering Middle East peace process.

President George W. Bush said late on Wednesday that he and the first lady shared "the concerns of the Israeli people about Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's health" and were praying for him.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also reached out to Sharon, 77, who underwent an emergency operation to drain blood from his brain after his second stroke in less than three weeks.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Prime Minister Sharon, his family, and the Israeli people," said Rice.

State Department spokesperson Sean McCormack said the Bush administration had called no emergency meetings on Sharon's condition, the latest development to rock efforts to put peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians back on track.

But the White House had already scheduled a meeting of Rice and other top cabinet officials for Thursday, McCormack said.

Sharon, a former right-wing powerhouse trying to fashion himself into a centrist, has been key to US hopes of ending five years of bloodshed and forging a new Palestinian state to live in peace alongside Israel.

Absence adds pressure

The dramatic deterioration in his health came with Washington's efforts facing challenges on several fronts as both Israelis and the Palestinians prepared for crucial elections.

Sharon, seeking re-election in March 28 polls, was under severe pressure from his old Likud Party for engineering Israel's September pullout from Gaza that Washington billed as a milestone for peace efforts.

Analysts said his absence from the political battlefield left a big hole at a delicate moment.

"Ariel Sharon is the embodiment of the mainstream consensus in Israel right now, but he doesn't really have either a successor or an alternative," said former US Middle East envoy Dennis Ross.

"With Sharon obviously grievously ill, it's going to bring everything to a halt in Israel? even in terms of the election campaign and what the election itself is going to mean."

US to help

The United States was already having trouble parlaying the Gaza handover into progress on broader issues and even in making a deal Rice brokered in November on freedom of movement for the Palestinians stick.

The Americans were also hoping Sharon would help resolve a row over voting rights for Palestinians in Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem that threatened the Palestinian elections scheduled for January 25.

A senior US official, who asked not to be named, said before Sharon's latest stroke that Israeli-Palestnian differences were not insurmountable.

"Where there is a will there is a way," he said. "We're going to be working with them to the extent that is appropriate if we can on election-related issues as well as other issues."

- AFP