Bush promises Mid-East plan 'soon'

Bush promises Mid-East plan 'soon'

The cycle of violence continues unabated

President George W Bush has promised that the so-called road map for peace between Israel and the Palestinians will be published "soon".

Speaking to the media after a meeting with UK Prime Minister Tony Blair, he said he was "strongly committed" to implementing his vision for peace in the Middle East.

He did not give a specific date for publication.

The road map sets out a process that aims to freeze construction of further Jewish settlements, return land occupied since September 2000, and create a Palestinian state by 2005.

It was created by an international quartet of the European Union, United Nations, Russia and the United States.

Mr Blair said he had had an "excellent discussion" with the US president and they both shared "a complete determination" to resolve the conflict.

Appointment welcomed

Mr Blair said the alliance between the UK and US "had never been in better shape" and praised Mr Bush as "the first [US] president to publicly commit to a two-state solution".

"I welcome the decision announced recently to publish the road map as soon as the confirmation of the new Palestinian prime minister is properly administered," he said.

Reform within the Palestinian administration - including the appointment of a prime minister - was a condition on the beginning of negotiations on such a road map.

The nomination of Mahmoud Abbas, better known as Abu Mazen, for the post has been widely welcomed.

But our correspondent in Jerusalem, James Reynolds, says Israeli officials do not like the peace road map much in its current form, and that they are trying to put together their own plan as an alternative.

Retort to Straw

Meanwhile, Israeli officials and commentators have condemned recent remarks by UK Foreign Minister Jack Straw that the West's different approaches to Iraq and Israel were hypocritical.

UK foreign minister's comments drew contempt from Israeli commentators

Mr Straw told the BBC there was "real concern that the West has been guilty of double standards, on the one hand saying the United Nations Security Council resolutions on Iraq must be implemented, on the other hand, sometimes appearing rather quixotic over the implementation of resolutions about Israel and Palestine".

"I did not hear Straw mention the terrorism running rampant in our streets," the popular newspaper Yediot Aharonot quoted one unnamed senior official as retorting.

The centre-left Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz called Mr Straw's comments "contemptible" and said it was a "pity" Mr Blair had not explicitly rejected them.

It said the UN Security Council had never officially ruled against Israel.

Our correspondent says the angry reaction is a sure sign of concern that the British Government is taking an increasingly tough line on Israel, which it fears may rub off on Washington.