Keeping up the 'roadmap' momentum

Gordon Corera
BBC State Department correspondent

The Palestinian prime minister, appointed in April, needs concrete results

Diplomacy in the Middle East peace process is picking up pace once again as the key players make their way to the White House to press their case.

The reason for this sudden burst of activity is the fear that positive early momentum on the "roadmap" is being lost as each side waits for the other to follow through on commitments.

"We don't want to fall backwards, we want to keep moving forward," said State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, on Wednesday.

When Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas - also known as Abu Mazen - meets President Bush on Friday he is likely to present a detailed list of concerns which he will then hope will be communicated by Mr Bush to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, when they meet the following Tuesday.

Gaining progress on this will be crucial for the position of Mr Abbas at home.

Road blocks

The biggest obstacle at the moment seems to be the issue of Israel releasing Palestinian prisoners, which was not part of the roadmap but has become a key demand for Palestinians.

The Palestinians want all of the estimated 6,000 prisoners set free but Israel has indicated that it is considering only releasing a few hundred.

Israel has said it will vet all those in jail, but will not consider releasing those from militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Palestinians are pressing for the release of jailed relatives

Another issue the Palestinians will be hoping for US help with is the dismantling of Israeli settlements and unauthorised outposts in the West Bank and Gaza, which are continuing to spread.

There has been some movement by Israel on this issue, but critics say the outposts that have been removed were small, insignificant and often empty.

Mr Abbas will also look for help on the building of a fence around Palestinian land which leaves some villages cut off.

Israeli Foreign Minister, Silvan Shalom, who met US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday, told Israeli radio: "I think that a misunderstanding between us and the United States is definitely developing over the separation fence...

"I told my US colleagues yesterday that the fence should help the peace process because it is aimed at preventing radical terrorist groups from harming the process by carrying out attacks against Israelis."

The US criticism of the fence has been noticeably strong and Mr Abbas hopes the US will help to halt its construction.

Israeli wish list

For Israel, the single overriding demand is for greater action against militant groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Prime Minister Sharon has acknowledged that "there has been significant Palestinian activity in preventing terror and incitement".

However, what Israel really wants to see is action to actually dismantle what it calls "terrorist organisations and their infrastructure" and the US will be pressing Mr Abbas on how he intends to proceed.

Sharon could be pressed over the huge fence Israel is erecting

For the Palestinian prime minister, bringing back some concrete results from Washington and this round of diplomacy is vital.

Even though he is feted in Washington, his position domestically remains difficult with both militant groups and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (whom the White House refuses to deal with) sniping at him and looking for any signs that he is selling out.

Also, noticeable is Mr Abbas' choice to travel to Washington with his head of security, Mohammad Dahlan, whose job it will be to clamp down on militants.

Mr Abbas will be expecting some concessions to improve quality of life for Palestinians such as work permits but more thorny, substantive issues will also need to be addressed or else the Palestinian leader will continue to risk his support being undercut.

As ever, much of the problem comes in sequencing. Each side wants the other to go first in fulfilling obligations.

The Bush administration's task will be to try and nudge both on, over the next few days.