Bush launches West Asia peace mission

Before arriving in Egypt, Bush said at the G-8 summit in France that West Asia peace would be a difficult undertaking but predicted progress.

Bush, meeting the new Palestinian prime minister for the first time, was seeking support for the West Asia peace ‘‘road map’’. On Wednesday, Bush is to hold a landmark summit with Israeli PM Ariel Sharon and Abbas in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba. The US President had refused to meet veteran Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Arab leaders are expected to urge the US to use its muscle on Israel, which Arabs fear could undermine the road map because Sharon only endorsed the plan after Washington said it would address his concerns.

‘‘What is required is a firm commitment, implementation and monitoring of the road map and this is what we hope will come out from the meetings,’’ Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher said on Monday.

US hopes for progress have been buoyed by word that Sharon will announce plans to uproot some rogue Jewish settler outposts at his summit in Aqaba.

Israel also released a jailed member of the Palestine Liberation Organisation’s (PLO) executive committee, Taysir Khaled, a leader of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine on Monday in a goodwill gesture. About another 100 Palestinian prisoners were likely to be freed by Wednesday. (Reuters)