The Palestinians were pleased with the outcome of the summit, the first between Bush and a Palestinian leader since the President took office in 2000. Bush refused to meet the late Yasser Arafat because of his involvement in terrorism. "It was a success for the Palestinian side and for the efforts to achieve peace in the region," said Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser Al-Kidwa. "I don't think we've heard such a clear and comprehensive U.S. position in the past." Abbas said: "I think we have achieved what we wanted to achieve from this visit.”