USA: President George W. Bush comments on Middle East conflict and latest statement by Al Qaeda deputy Zawahir

U.S. President George W. Bush said on Thursday (July 27) he wanted an end to the conflict in southern Lebanon as soon as possible but that he believes democracies needed to fight "terrorist activities." Bush's comments, made during a photo opportunity with Romanian President Traian Basescu, reflected the U.S. position that Washington wants a "sustainable" ceasefire that addresses the threat of Hizbollah in Lebanon instead of an immediate ceasefire. "And now's the time to address the root cause of the problem, and the root cause of the problem is terrorist groups trying to stop the advance of democracies. Hizbollah attacked Israel," Bush said. International talks in Rome failed to come up with an immediate cease-fire on Wednesday (July 26), but Washington argued progress was made toward addressing the root causes of the conflict. Bush said U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was leading a serious diplomatic effort to try to reach an end to the fighting. Bush also commented on a video from al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahri exhorting Muslims to "fight and become martyrs" in response to the conflict in Lebanon. "It doesn't surprise me," Bush told reporters. "Here's a fella who is in a remote region of the world, putting out statements, basically encouraging people to use terrorist tactics to kill innocent people to achieve political objectives," Bush said. In the tape aired by Al Jazeera television, Zawahri linked the Israel-Lebanon conflict to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, countries where al Qaeda is battling Western forces.

ITN Source | July 28, 2006

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