US President George W. Bush on Wednesday heaped praise on Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for Israel's historic withdrawal from the Gaza Strip but turned a blind eye to ongoing construction in West Bank settlements.
The two leaders met for roughly 35 minutes on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, in what was their first face-to-face meeting since the Israel's pullout from Gaza, ending 38 years of occupation.
"I know it was hard but I admire your courage," Bush told the Israeli leader at the outset of the meeting. "It is an opportunity that was created by a bold decision and we will work together to see the vision of peace come to be."
Speaking to reporters travelling with his delegation, Sharon said talks focused almost exclusively on Gaza's future and efforts by the Palestinian Authority to exert control in the territory that they hope to have as part of a future state.
He also said the US leader understood that no progress on the peace process was possible until the Palestinian Authority had proved its mettle in Gaza, which has been the scene of chaos this week in the days following Israel's departure.
"Most of the conversation was about Gaza. What happens in Gaza is, to their mind, what will dictate the future of the peace process," Sharon said, describing Gaza as a "test case" for how the Palestinian Authority would run any future state.
"They want progress on the roadmap but there is no chance at the moment," he said, referring to the internationally drafted peace blueprint, which aims at ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and creating an independent Palestinian state.
As the last troops pulled out of Gaza on Monday, joyous rioting erupted across the territory, leaving Palestinian security forces powerless to stop the masses from storming the abandoned settlements and the southern frontier with Egypt, which is manned by Egyptian border police.
"If they don't take control of what is going on in Gaza, there is doubt over the political future," Sharon said, adding the US administration was putting heavy pressure on Egypt and the Palestinians to control the situation.
Although Bush was keen to see a swift return to the stalled roadmap, he said moves to further the peace process would be easier if the Palestinians demonstrated strong leadership and took action against violence.
"Now is the time for Palestinians to come together to establish a government that will be peaceful to Israel," Bush said at the outset of the meeting, later telling Sharon: "It will be easier to move forward on the roadmap, in the peace process, if there is good governance and the Palestinian Authority addresses terror."
With Gaza's future firmly fixed within Washington's sights, the thorny issue of ongoing construction in the West Bank settlements "was not even raised" at the talks with Bush, Sharon told reporters.
"We are building in the West Bank settlements. Does that make the Americans happy. No. Are there any steps against Israel? No again," he said.
"In the biggest settlement blocs, the construction will continue. That is what I have said, and that is what will happen."
En route to New York, a senior official in Sharons delegation acknowledged "differences" with Washington over the expansion of settlements on Palestinian territory, but said it would not be a key issue during the talks.
"The US focus is now on Gaza. There is no focus on anything else," he told reporters on the plane.
The Palestinians fear Israel will follow up the Gaza withdrawal with attempts to strengthen its grip on major settlement enclaves in the West Bank, where some 250,000 Jewish settlers live.
Meanwhile, a top official in Sharon's delegation said the Israeli leader was expected to hold talks with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas "at the end of September, or early October."
The two leaders last met in Jerusalem in June but talks broke up amid bitter arguments and recriminations over continuing violence, yielding few tangible results.
Earlier Wednesday, Israel began reaping diplomatic dividends from the Muslim world over its pullout from the Gaza Strip, with Sharon exchanging a handshake with Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf at an informal exchange during the UN summit.
Israel and Pakistan do not have diplomatic relations but their foreign ministers met in Istanbul on September 1 in the the first official contact between the Jewish state and Islamic republic.
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom also met secretly for the first time with his Indonesian counterpart Hassan Wirayuda, a senior Israeli source told reporters.
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