President George Bush has had a positive start to his long and potentially treacherous quest for an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict after Arab leaders gave their support to the "road map" for peace. From Siona Jenkins in Cairo and David Horovitz in Jerusalem
A more difficult, and more important, meeting today will see him chair talks between Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon, and the new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas.
Meeting the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and the Palestinians in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh yesterday, Mr Bush called his trip to the region "a moment of promise for the cause of peace in the Middle East".
He added that he sought "a true peace, not just a pause between intifadas, but a permanent reconciliation among the peoples of the Middle East".
His Egyptian host, President Hosni Mubarak, and his fellow Arab leaders pledged their backing for the road map and promised to "continue to work for a Middle East that is free of strife and violence, living in harmony without the threat of terrorism or dangers of weapons of mass destruction". They also called upon Israel to "rebuild trust and restore normal Palestinian life and carry out its other obligations under the road map."
President Bush came to Egypt in no real doubt the leaders present - all moderates and friends of the US - would give broad support to the road map, the internationally-backed three-step plan for ending Palestinian-Israeli violence and establishing a Palestinian state by the end of 2005.
Mr Bush also got a potentially controversial condemnation of terrorism, given that many Arabs see groups such as Hamas, Hizbullah and Islamic Jihad as legitimately resisting foreign occupation and do not consider them terrorist organisations, but one that could help to wrest concessions from Israel.
The Palestinian hope is that Mr Sharon will declare an "end to occupation", but this is unlikely. The Israeli hope is that Mr Abbas will declare Palestinian recognition of Israel "as a Jewish state" - effectively relinquishing the "right of return" by Palestinian refugees to sovereign Israel that would radically reduce the Jewish majority in the country. This is equally unlikely.
Mr Sharon is expected to announce that the Israeli army will begin dismantling some of the dozens of settlement "outposts" that have sprung up across the West Bank during the past 32 months of intifada confrontation.