Bush labels Geneva plan ‘productive’

President Bush yesterday called a new unofficial Middle East peace plan “productive” as long as it adheres to his principles that the Palestinians end terrorism and Israel pulls back settlements in land he envisions as part of a democratic Palestinian state.

“We appreciate people discussing peace,” Mr. Bush said. “We just want to make sure people understand that the principles to peace are clear.”

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell will meet today with the architects of the so-called Geneva Accords — Yossi Beilin, a veteran Israeli negotiator, and Yasser Abed Rabbo, a former information minister for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The two men took it upon themselves to begin their own negotiations despite opposition from the Israeli government.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has called the talks counterproductive, and Israeli Vice President Ehud Olmert said Tuesday it was a “mistake” for Mr. Powell to meet with Mr. Beilin and Mr. Rabbo.

Mr. Powell, however, embraced the talks yesterday, the first negotiations of any kind since the president’s “road map” for peace stalled amid the violence of the last several months.

“As ideas emerge, from whatever source, it seems to me not inappropriate to listen to the authors and proponents of these ideas to see what they are saying and take it into account,” Mr. Powell said in Brussels.

Mr. Beilin and Mr. Rabbo promoted their efforts to a gathering of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York yesterday, saying that vast numbers of Israelis and Palestinians “are thirsty for something like this.”

“The road map is the only game in town,” Mr. Beilin said in his address to the Council on Foreign Relations. “But it’s a game nobody is playing. You need the endgame in front of your eyes if you want to implement it.”

Mr. Beilin later said in an interview that “what we need is encouragement” for the Geneva Accords from the Bush administration.

“What Secretary Powell said in the past and President Bush said today is part of this encouragement,” Mr. Beilin said. “Israelis and Palestinians see that the American administration is supporting it — not endorsing every word, but supporting. It might have a very good impact on Israel’s support” for the plan.

Mr. Rabbo said continuing to work on the president’s road map is critical, and he and Mr. Beilin are “trying to complement it.”

“This will strengthen it and make it more credible,” Mr. Rabbo said in an interview. “We want the American administration to see that there are positive indications and new elements which will help the implementation of the road map.”

Mr. Bush’s qualified embrace of the Geneva Accords followed a meeting yesterday with Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House.

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