LONDON -- The Palestinian people must be allowed to choose their own leaders, Britain's press opined on Wednesday, following U.S. President George W. Bush's call for the removal of Yasser Arafat as their head.

"While the replacement of Arafat by more able and stronger-willed leaders would indeed benefit the Palestinian cause ... this is not something which Washington can sensibly achieve by dictate," said the left-of-center ***Guardian. *** ***The Financial Times ***said it was "up to the Palestinian people to choose their own leaders. That is democracy. Bush can urge them to change but he cannot dictate the outcome." The right-wing ***Daily Mail ***argued that Bush "may come to regret speaking as he did. He would have been better advised to heed British Prime Minister Tony Blair's caution on this issue, allowing Palestinians to decide their leader for themselves."

In an eagerly-awaited Middle East policy speech on Monday, Bush implicitly called for Arafat to be ousted as a condition for Palestinian statehood.

Bush also urged the Palestinian leadership to make reforms and hold elections, AFP reported.

***The Financial Times ***accused Bush of spelling out "a vision without a map. He wants to see two states living side by side in peace and security.

But he does not have any new ideas about getting from here to there," it said.

***The Guardian ***said Bush had "created a vacuum, confused the issues, ducked responsibility, and set back the cause of peace.

Forget Arafat for a moment. Americans and Israelis also deserve better leaders," it added.

Opinion shared by the independent, which said that although it was "hard to envisage a lasting peace so long as Yasser Arafat holds the reins of Palestinian power ... what Bush omitted to say. And is surely as true, is that the cause of peace is unlikely to be furthered while prime minister Ariel Sharon holds power in Israel."