The White House hailed Israel's qualified acceptance of the blueprint yesterday as "an important step forward" and reports said a White House advance party had gone to Egypt and Jordan to prepare a possible summit.
"We look forward to working with all parties in the region to realise the vision of peace which the president laid out," White House spokesperson Adam Levine said.
State Department spokesperson Tara Rigler said the Bush administration welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's acceptance of the road map.
"The president has affirmed his determination to move ahead and to make progress toward his June 24 vision using the road map as a practical guide," Rigler said. "We will continue to work closely with both sides throughout implementation of the roadmap".
In his White House speech on June 24, 2002, Bush expressed US commitment to creating an independent Palestinian state living in peace with Israel, and called for sweeping changes in the Palestinian leadership.
Bush said Friday that he would meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders if it will promote peace.
"If a meeting advances progress toward two states living side-by-side in peace, I will strongly consider such a meeting," Bush said.
Administration officials have told AFP that Bush may meet Sharon and new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas after a summit from June 1-3 in France.
Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt is considered the most likely venue.
Media reports said a US team left Washington for Egypt yesterday to prepare for a possible summit between Bush and the Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
The White House refused to comment on the reports.
The Israeli cabinet yesterday grudgingly approved the roadmap, coupling it with a resolution denying Palestinian refugees the right of return, official Israeli sources said.
The cabinet approved the internationally drafted document with 12 votes for, seven against and four abstentions, in a stormy session.
Sharon agreed to call the vote only after the US on Friday gave a formal new pledge to be mindful of its key Middle East ally's security concerns, laid out earlier in a statement by Secretary of State Colin Powell and national security adviser Condoleezza Rice.
Senior US officials have said that Israel's concerns would be addressed within the context of implementing the roadmap, not by changing the internationally drawn blueprint itself, which Palestinians refuse to alter.
Drafted by the US, United Nations, European Union and Russia, the roadmap calls for an end to the violence raging since September 2000, an Israeli withdrawal to pre-intifada lines, a freeze of Jewish settlement activity and the eventual creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
A leading US senator and presidential candidate yesterday urged Bush to play a greater role in pushing the roadmap.
"The Bush administration has effectively been disengaged from the ground in the Middle East," Senator Joseph Lieberman told the "Fox News Sunday" programme.
"It's not going to get better between the Israelis and Palestinians unless the US is there.
"It seems to me is that what they (Israel) have approved is the destination, which is peace with the Palestinians. And they've effectively agreed to get in the same car with Abu Mazen and the US," he said. – Sapa-AFP.
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