Eager to try to quell Arab anger over the U.S.-led invasion
of Iraq (news - web sites), Bush was to release the so-called Middle East
"roadmap" after the swearing-in of reformist Palestinian Prime
Minister Mahmoud Abbas.
Aides said he could direct its release on Wednesday after
Abbas' swearing-in or wait until Thursday, the day Bush is to
declare an end to combat in Iraq and turn the page to the
nation's reconstruction.
The United States was undeterred by a Tel Aviv suicide
bombing that killed at least three people and left 49 wounded.
The release of the roadmap will mark Bush's most intense
attempt at peacemaking since he took office more than two years
ago. He has pledged to put "the same amount of energy" into it
as British Prime Minister Tony Blair (news - web sites) has into the long-running
Northern Ireland peace process.
"This is a priority for the president, and he is committed
to it," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer (news - web sites) said.
The plan, worked out by the Quartet of the United States,
the United Nations (news - web sites), the European Union (news - web sites) and Russia, calls for a
Palestinian state as early as 2005 at the end of a process that
starts with a halt to violence and Israeli steps to improve
life for Palestinians.
"The Palestinians have taken a serious step," said a senior
Bush administration official, speaking on condition of
anonymity. "The hope is that this will lead to real progress
and the roadmap will act as a guidepost for the parties to work
together."
Fleischer said Bush wants to stick to the deadlines
outlined in the roadmap.
"The president wants progress to move quickly," he said.
NEED TO ACT QUICKLY
To stick to the roadmap, the parties will have to act
quickly.
Under the document, by May the Palestinians must
immediately undertake an immediate cessation of violence and
the Israelis must take steps to ease restrictions on
Palestinians.
Israel must freeze all settlement activity. The
Palestinians must issue an unequivocal statement reiterating
Israel's right to exist in peace and security. Israel must
issue a similar statement affirming its commitment to a
Palestinian state living side by side with Israel.
Bush is under pressure by the pro-Israel lobby in the
United States not to be too tough on Israel. The White House
has responded that Bush would welcome contributions from the
parties after they review the roadmap.
Senior U.S. officials believe Israel, without Iraq to worry
about, has more room to take risks for peace and that the
United States has more credibility in pressing the Israelis to
take risks.
The United States resisted pressure from the European Union
and others to put out the roadmap much sooner in order to quell
a vicious cycle of bloodshed.
U.S. officials believe that by waiting, Bush put enough
pressure on the Palestinians to form a government of reformers
and force Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) to the sidelines,
as Bush wanted.
The resumption of peace talks could break a deadlock that
began in early 2001.
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) is traveling abroad this
week on a trip that includes Syria and Lebanon, but he will not
see the Israelis and Palestinians until a second trip on May 8,
officials said on Tuesday.
He will travel to Spain, Albania, Syria and Lebanon from
Thursday through Saturday to discuss efforts to advance
Arab-Israeli peace and moves to establish a representative
democracy in Iraq, the State Department announced.
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