Bush: Clinton Mideast talks led to intifada

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush says he has no immediate plans for a Mideast summit because the one convened by former President Clinton resulted in "a significant intifada" among Palestinians.

Bush's comments, made in an interview with Britain's Granada Television, were a sharp rebuke of Clinton's Middle East policy. They also echoed those of his press secretary, Ari Fleischer, who issued an apology in February after suggesting Clinton's failed Middle East diplomacy sparked the violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

While not mentioning Clinton by name, Bush went on to say his administration would only call a summit "when it looks like something can get done."

"We've had summits in the past, as you may remember," Bush said. "It wasn't all that long ago where a summit was called and nothing happened, and as a result we had a significant intifada in the area."

CNN has been unable to reach Clinton or his top aides for reaction.

Fleischer apologized after he suggested the 2000 Camp David summit among Clinton, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak led to the violence that has wracked the region.

"No United States president, including President Clinton, is to blame for violence in the Middle East," Fleischer told reporters at an afternoon news conference in late February. "The only people to blame for violence are the terrorists who engage in it. I regret any implication to the contrary."

But earlier that day, Fleischer labeled Clinton's mediation efforts an "attempt to shoot the moon" by pushing the parties toward an agreement that they were not ready to reach. He said that contributed to the violence that broke out after the Camp David talks failed.

"It is important to be careful in the region, proceed at a pace that is achievable and doable and not to raise people's expectations so high, by trying to reach something the parties cannot agree to themselves," Fleischer said. "Because the failure to reach that level created unmet expectations, and that resulted in violence."

Following those comments, Samuel Berger, Clinton's national security adviser, called Condoleezza Rice, Bush's national security adviser, to express the Clinton administration's displeasure at Fleischer's comments.

In the same interview, Bush said Arafat "hasn't earned" the U.S. administration's trust and added, "There are others in the region who can lead."