Armed with welcome Arab backing, U.S. President George W. Bush is in Jordan today for a crucial summit with the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers to win their commitment to Middle East peace.
Bush leaves Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, where a summit with five Arab leaders supported the U.S.-backed Middle East peace "road map", and travels to the Jordanian port of Aqaba, a linchpin stop in his hectic sprint across six nations.
Bush's goal is to get Sharon and Abbas to halt 32 months of bloodshed resulting from a Palestinian uprising against occupation and take steps to nurse along the "road map" that envisions creating a Palestinian state by 2005.
"I hope that this laying of the groundwork for peace in the Middle East, as tough as the challenge is, will continue in Aqaba tomorrow," a senior Saudi official said after the summit in Egypt, which included Abbas.
"It is there where the action should really begin. It is there where the commitments really mean something," he said.
There are some encouraging signs toward meeting the road map's first requirements of ending Palestinian violence against Israelis, and Israelis easing some restrictions on Palestinians.
Responding to U.S. pressure for conciliatory moves, Israel freed almost 100 prisoners in time for the summit.
And Abbas said last weekend he expected militant Palestinian factions to agree to a ceasefire in their battle against Israeli occupation within 20 days.
But doubts remain over each side's commitment to implementing the peace plan. The U.S. side is predicting a long, hard path ahead despite the encouraging sounds coming from Sharm el-Sheikh, where Arab leaders said they backed the road map.
"This would have been resolved a long time ago if there were not difficult issues," Bush's national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, told reporters in Egypt.
In Egypt, Bush heard leaders from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain pledge to do their part in trying to push the road map forward. They vowed to crack down on sources of financing for "terrorist groups", as Washington has demanded, and support the Palestinian effort.
But one key figure, Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, was absent, and Syria on Tuesday criticised the peace drive as a U.S. attempt to end a Palestinian uprising for independence while turning a blind eye to what it called Israeli "crimes".
The Arab leaders in Egypt heard Bush give his unqualified backing to the peace initiative, as he sought to reassure them of his commitment, although he has waited two-and-a-half years into his presidency to launch a major plan.
"I'm the kind of person who, when I say something, I mean it...I mean that the world needs to have a Palestinian state that is free and at peace," said Bush, whose decision to go to war in Iraq fired anti-American sentiment in the Arab world.
In unusually blunt language, Bush said Israel was going to have to make some concession on Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. "Israel must deal with the settlements," he said.
The road map requires Israel to freeze settlement activity and dismantle those erected in the past two years. The international community considers the settlements illegal, although Israel disputes this.
Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr told al-Jazeera television that he was encouraged by the outcome of the summit in Egypt, but cautioned of tough talks ahead.
"The Sharm el-Sheikh summit provided us with strong political support, particularly Arab support, because those at the meeting...extended political and legitimate support for Palestinian efforts which will start, and perhaps with difficulty, in Aqaba tomorrow."