Sharon Cuts U.S. Visit Short
Tue May 7, 6:34 PM ET
By RON FOURNIER, AP White House Correspondent
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon failed to bridge major differences on the Middle East crisis Tuesday in face-to-face talks overshadowed by a new suicide bombing in Israel.
Bush and Sharon could not agree on whether talks in the region should result in a Palestinian state, an outcome that the United States believes is essential. The president did say he would send CIA Director George Tenet back to help build a Palestinian security force to fight terrorism.
Informed of the bombing as the Oval Office meeting broke up, Sharon decided to cut short his U.S. visit and was returning home immediately, an Israeli official said.
The president, after the meeting which lasted more than an hour, renewed his call for a separate state for the Palestinian people. Sharon replied, "I think it's premature to discuss" that issue until Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat reforms his government.
The two leaders met as a suicide attack shattered a pool hall in the Israeli city of Rishon Letzion late Tuesday, with many deaths reported.
