No Bush-Arafat meeting planned

By Kelly Wallace
CNN Washington Bureau

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush does not plan to meet with Yasser Arafat when the Palestinian leader comes to New York later this month, Bush's national security adviser said Sunday.

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"The president has said that he will meet with people when it is necessary to meet with people to advance the cause," Rice told NBC's "Meet the Press." "But at this point in time, there are no plans for the president to meet with Yasser Arafat in New York."

The Palestinian Authority president and Bush are set to join other world leaders in two weeks for the opening of the United Nations General Assembly, headquartered in New York.

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell would be "considering" whether to hold such a meeting "in the period ahead."

"You always want to do what you can to try to stop violence in a region like this and get people talking again," Rumsfeld said on "Fox News Sunday." "It depends on what takes place and what the private discussions indicate might bear fruit."

The New York Times reported Sunday that Bush could meet with Arafat in New York, but the pair's first face-to-face encounter would most likely happen only if there were some progress in talks between high-level Palestinian and Israeli officials.

An administration official said there has "always been an option ... out there" to have a meeting, but that no decision has been made.

Rice said the White House still believes Arafat could do more to stop the bloodshed.

"We have, in fact, even received recently new assurances from the Palestinian Authority that they are trying to stop the violence," she said. "But we're waiting to see. We believe that they can do more and that they really do need to do more."

Bush met with Rice, Rumsfeld, Powell and other members of his national security team Friday at the White House to discuss U.S. policy in the Middle East, as well as other topics, an administration official said.