BRITAIN: The British Prime Minister, Mr Tony Blair, yesterday stopped short of endorsing the Bush call for Palestinians to dump their leader, Mr Yasser Arafat.
But he warned Palestinians that if they want peace "we've got to have leadership we can negotiate with that is serious about peace and resists and totally rejects terrorism".
It was a fine distinction, but a distinction with importance, underlining both European concern at what they see as Mr Bush's crude conditionality and his allies' determination to keep him engaged.
Speaking at a joint press conference with the US President before the start yesterday of the G8 summit in the small Canadian Rockies town of Kananaskis, he insisted "it's for the Palestinians to elect the people that they choose to elect. But if we're going to make progress, we need people that we can negotiate with . . .
"So this is no question of us going in and saying to the Palestinians, look, we're going to run your election.
"But it is a question of us saying, if we want this peace process to work there are certain clear preconditions. One, we've got to have leadership we can negotiate with that is serious about peace and resists and totally rejects terrorism.
"Two, we've got to have a security infrastructure in Palestine that has integrity. And, three, we've got to have political institutions capable of giving rise to the viable Palestinian state that we believe should be the outcome of this process.
"So if in the end you want, as we want, an Israeli state that is confident about its own security and a viable Palestinian state, those are the preconditions. For Israel to be confident, it's got to have a negotiating partner that is serious about tackling terrorism," Mr Blair said.
Most of the leaders of the Group of Eight - the US, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Japan, Italy and Russia - have already issued statements distancing themselves from Mr Bush's insistence that Mr Arafat be replaced before serious peace negotiations with Israel can begin.
European officials said that those US allies, which have worked closely with the administration on the Middle East in recent months, are likely over the two-day meeting to press Mr Bush for a more detailed explanation of his plan.
They are concerned at his failure to mention the convening of a peace conference and specifics on what the parties should do between now and when the Palestinians produce their acceptable new leadership and institutions.
Allies and moderate Arabs have been keen to play down differences with Mr Bush and accentuate the positive - everyone believes US engagement is critical to any movement in the Middle East and allies are positioning themselves to cajole Mr Bush into a more even-handed position rather than confront him.
Their Canadian host, the Prime Minister, Mr Jean Chretien, dodged the Arafat issue. "I don't have a specific point of view," he said. "I think it might be a good thing; I don't want to comment on that. But I just say that we need a quick election there and to produce the best leadership."
In Washington, administration officials have sought to soften criticism by revealing that Mr Bush was pushed towards the call for the removal of Mr Arafat only in the last few days after being given "new information" by the Israelis.
This allegedly showed that Mr Arafat authorised a $20,000 payment to the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an offshoot of his Fatah faction that claimed responsibility for one of the two suicide attacks last week that killed 26 Israelis.
Meanwhile, the official agenda for the G8 meeting, which ends today, is dominated by three themes, terrorism, the global economy, and aid for Africa. The leaders will issue joint statements on enhancing non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, focusing in particular in enhancing co-operation in securing international transport links.
That ranges from exchanging data on passenger lists to agreed measures to vet and document the 48 million containers that are exported or imported annually and the 28,000 ships trading every day around the world.
Concern will be expressed about the Japanese economy, and about whether the dollar is too strong, or may become too weak. His position on the dollar, Mr Bush said on Monday night, "is that it will seek its own level based upon market forces".
The Europeans and Canadians are also prepared to do battle over what they see as the hypocrisy of an administration trade policy that talks about free markets and then imposes heavy tariffs on steel and lumber and approves hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies for US farmers.
