Bush aide to meet Palestinian PM

Condoleezza Rice will be the most senior US official to meet Ahmed Qurei

Palestinian PM Ahmed Qurei will meet US National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, this month in Berlin.

It will be the Palestinian prime minister's first meeting with a senior member of the Bush administration since he took office last year.

Meanwhile, the UN General Assembly has voted in favour of the right of Palestinians to sovereignty over Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

The assembly voted 140 for and six against to adopt the resolution.

'Good indication'

Reports say the meeting between Mr Qurei and Ms Rice will take place in Berlin as early as 17 May.

Ms Rice departs next weekend on a trip that will take her to Berlin and Moscow.

These [Palestinian] rights are constant and cannot be altered or voided with the passage of time or because of changes on the ground Nasser al-Kidwa Palestinian UN representative

Mr Qurei welcomed the planned meeting.

"We think it is a very good indication that it is possible, if there is a real practical effort, to go back to negotiations, that it's possible to start a serious implementation of the road map," he said.

President Bush announced on Thursday he intended to expand dialogue with the Palestinians.

Speaking in Washington at a joint news conference with King Abdullah of Jordan, Mr Bush said he would write to Mr Qurei to tell the Palestinians his desire for them to realise their hopes and aspirations.

Important concession

Mr Bush said he appreciated King Abdullah's "wise counsel" and would act on it.

King Abdullah won important concessions from Mr Bush

"He advised that I make sure the Palestinians understand my desire for a just peace; my desire for there to be a prosperous country; my desire that the Palestinian people have a chance to realise their hopes and aspirations," he told reporters at a joint White House press conference with the king.

The BBC's Jon Leyne in Washington says the sending of the letter from the president is an important concession won by King Abdullah who said he hoped the move would reassure others in the Middle East.

Mr Sharon's proposal to pull out of Gaza has been criticised by the Palestinian leadership for being a unilateral move rather than the result of negotiation. There are also accusations that Israel wants to incorporate too much of the West Bank, effectively redrawing its international borders without an agreement.

But Mr Bush on Thursday reiterated his support for the disengagement plan, which may be modified by Mr Sharon following its rejection by his Likud part.

'Affirmation of rights'

At the UN General Assembly 11 countries abstained, while four Pacific island states, the United States and Israel voted against the motion.

Assembly resolutions are non-binding and do not have the weight of UN Security Council resolutions. However, they do tend to reflect a consensus of opinion in the international community.

The Palestinian representative at the UN, Nasser al-Kidwa, welcomed the resolution as an important affirmation of Palestinian rights that "cannot be altered or voided with the passage of time".

Deputy US ambassador James Cunningham said the resolution was "inappropriate and ill-timed, and would detract from rather than enhance ongoing [peace] efforts".