Israel 'ready' to adopt peace plan

Powell and Sharon held 'frank and useful' talks earlier this month

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said he will submit the peace proposals set out in the US-backed international peace plan to his cabinet for approval.

Mr Sharon made the announcement shortly after the United States promised to address Israel's objections to the plan, known as the roadmap, which envisages the step-by-step creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.

Later on Friday, on a day of fast-moving diplomacy, US President George W Bush said he was now considering to host a summit with both the Israeli and the Palestinian prime ministers.

But Palestinian officials - while welcoming the day's development - have reiterated that any amendments to the roadmap would be unacceptable.

Prime Minister Sharon accepted the road map and that is progress. He accepted it because I assured him that the United States is committed to Israel's security

US President George W Bush

Mr Sharon has objected to the freeze on Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories demanded by the plan, and has insisted that the Palestinians must halt all violence before Israel makes any significant concessions.

And in a BBC interview shortly after Mr Sharon's announcement, his adviser, Ranaan Gissin, said Jewish settlements already authorised by the government would not be dismantled, only those set up illegally.

As he spoke, the Israeli Housing Ministry said it was going ahead with plans to expand the largest Jewish settlement in the West Bank and had already invited bidders to build over 500 more homes.

Nonetheless the BBC's Jeremy Cooke in Jerusalem says Mr Sharon's personal acceptance of the road map is highly significant, and could break the diplomatic deadlock.

Key cabinet meeting

In a statement earlier on Friday, US Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said the US shared "the view of the government of Israel" that "real concerns" remained.

ROADMAP MAIN POINTS

Phase 1 (to May 2003): End of terrorism, normalisation of Palestinian life and Palestinian political reform; Israeli withdrawal and end of settlement activity; Palestinian elections

Phase 2: (June-Dec 2003) Creation of an independent Palestinian state; international conference and international monitoring of compliance with roadmap

Phase 3 (2004-2005): Second international conference; permanent status agreement and end of conflict; agreement on final borders, Jerusalem, refugees and settlements; Arab states to agree to peace deals with Israel

Roadmap full text

Can attacks be stopped?

But speaking in France, Mr Powell said his statement - issued in Washington - did not mean there would be amendments to the road map, describing the scheme as a good one.

The US statement also indicated that the reservations would not be addressed immediately, but "in the implementation" of the plan.

Our correspondent says the wording of the statement from Washington - which falls short of agreeing to revise the roadmap - has been carefully calculated to reassure Mr Sharon and his cabinet that the US will not push them into major concessions.

Mr Sharon's office said the roadmap would be presented for cabinet approval on Sunday, and correspondents say the result is not a foregone conclusion.

However, some analysts say Mr Sharon, who won re-election by a resounding majority in January, would probably win the approval.

The Palestinians have already accepted the roadmap, and Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath described Friday's news as a "positive step".

But he also stressed that the Palestinians "will not agree to the amendments" to the roadmap.

No 'pressure'

Following a series of suicide attacks on Israeli targets, Mr Sharon had to postpone his planned talks with President Bush in Washington and no fresh date has been announced.

But after Mr Sharon's statement, President Bush said he was now willing to convene a three-way summit with the Israeli and the Palestinian prime ministers.

"Prime Minister Sharon accepted the road map and that is progress," President Bush said.

"He accepted it because I assured him that the United States is committed to Israel's security and that since we are committed to Israel's security as we move forward we will address any concerns that might arise regarding Israel's security."

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Washington say the meeting could take place possibly in Egypt, in two weeks' time.

The roadmap plan was drafted by the so-called Middle East Quartet - the United Nations, the US, the European Union and Russia.