US President George W Bush has reated positively to commitments by the new Palestinian prime minister to curb attacks on Israelis. He said they were a "hopeful sign" for peace in the Middle East.
In a keynote speech in Poland, Mr Bush said: "Today in the Middle East the emergence of a new Palestinian leadership, which has condemned terror, is a hopeful sign that the parties can agree to two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security."
He said he would do all he could to bring about peace in the region and has backed his claim by calling a June 4th summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas in Aqaba, Jordan.
"The work ahead will require difficult decisions ... For peace to prevail all leaders must fight terrorism," he said.
Mr Bush recently released a peace "road map" after months of delay, setting out steps for both sides to take towards the goal of creating a Palestinian state by 2005.
He has questioned the wisdom of previous summits, and his spokesman, Mr Ari Fleischer, once said former president Bill Clinton's "shoot the moon" drive at Camp David in July 2000 to broker an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal contributed to the outbreak in violence.
After fierce criticism from Clinton loyalists and others, Mr Fleischer said he regretted making the remark and withdrew it.
But the White House insists things have changed now that Mr Abbas is prime minister and Saddam Hussein is out of power in Iraq.
The White House said the Aqaba summit was on track after talks this week between Sharon and Abbas, which Secretary of State Colin Powell said "sets us up nicely".
But the White House is playing down expectations for much progress beyond getting both sides to commit themselves to taking steps to ease tensions.
AFP