"Once this roadmap is delivered, we will expect and welcome contributions from Israel and the Palestinians," Bush said.

WASHINGTON, March 14 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – U.S. President George W. Bush said Friday, March 14, that the long-delayed roadmap for Middle East peace will be published as soon as the Palestinians confirm the appointment of a prime minister, a move that could happen as early as next week.

Embroiled in a diplomatic imbroglio over Iraq fuelled, in part, by vehement Arab opposition to using force against Baghdad and anger over a perceived American apathy vis-à-vis the Palestinians’ plight, Bush said recent developments in the Middle East had created a "hopeful moment for progress" in the peacemaking drive.

He stressed that the Palestinian prime minister had to be empowered with full authority, expecting Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's nominee for the post, Mahmud Abbas to have such mandate, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

"We expect that such a Palestinian prime minister will be confirmed soon," said Bush.

"Immediately upon confirmation, the roadmap for peace will be given to the Palestinians and the Israelis."

The Palestinian parliament is making preparations to meet on Monday and Tuesday to consider Abbas' confirmation.

"Once this roadmap is delivered, we will expect and welcome contributions from Israel and the Palestinians to this document that will advance true peace," Bush said.

"We will urge them to discuss the roadmap with one another," he said, adding that time has come to move beyond entrenched positions and to "take concrete actions to achieve peace."

In recent days, U.S. officials have strenuously rejected suggestions that they wanted to delay the release of the roadmap until after the crisis with Iraq was resolved, and hinted that Arafat's nomination of the moderate Abbas, aka Abu Mazen, to be prime minister may have changed the situation.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Thursday that his appointment had created a "new dynamic" that he hoped would rekindle peace efforts.

"In the last week we have seen the emergence of a gentleman who is going to be the ... prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian people, in the person of Abu Mazen," Powell told a House budget subcommittee.

"And so, we have a new dynamic in play," he said. "And I hope that new dynamic of a prime minister with authority, real authority, will allow us to move forward."

"Big Step Forward”

Only minutes after Bush's speech, British Prime Minister Tony Blair held a briefing at Downing Street during which he said the Palestinian premier could likely be installed as early s next week.

Bush’s statement was hailed by Blair as "a big step forward."

Speaking to Arab and Israeli reporters, Blair said the goal was "a final and a comprehensive settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by 2005."

"We are right to focus on (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein and his weapons of mass destruction," he said, asserting "we must put equal focus on the people whose lives are being devastated by the lack of progress in the Middle East peace process."

Blair refused to take questions on either the Iraq crisis or his summit talks on Sunday, March 16, with Bush and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar.

“Not Enough”

But Palestinian officials said that Bush’s commitment to releasing the roadmap is not a tangible or enough step leading to its implementation.

Top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said all measures were being taken regarding the newly created post and in turn demanded that Washington provide a mechanism to guarantee the implementation of the internationally drafted roadmap.

"We carried out all procedures, political and legal, to define what authority the prime minister will have," he said.

Erakat stressed that "what is wanted from the United States is to find a real mechanism to carry out the roadmap, impose it on Israel with a timetable and international observers."

"It's time to turn the political vision of Bush into reality on the ground," he asserted.

Arafat's top adviser Nabil Abu Rudeina also agreed that Bush's commitment to releasing the roadmap wass "not enough".

"Bush has so far said nothing about the implementation of the roadmap. Anything short of that will not yield any results," Abu Rudeina said.

He confirmed that Arafat received a phone call from Blair who reaffirmed he would "continue his efforts towards the roadmap and said all the measures concerning a Palestinian prime minister were a step in the right direction."

On Monday, March 10, the Palestinian parliament approved the creation of the post and endowed it with responsibility for internal security while leaving Arafat in charge of national security and foreign policy.

But the Palestinian leader, who accepted the creation of the position under huge international pressure, could send the bill back to parliament next week with a few amendments.

Israel has expressed cautious optimism about Abbas, 68, Arafat's number two in the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) who has spoken out against Palestinian resistance attacks on Israel and recently called for a suspension of such operations.

But it has also warned that unless he is given full authority over the Palestinian security apparatus, nothing will change.

"Good News"

In the first European reaction to Bush’s statement, E.U. foreign policy chief Javier Solana hailed Bush’s pledge to publish the roadmap as good and constrictive news.

"I think it's good news, constructive and positive news," Solana told reporters on the sidelines of an informal meeting of E.U. defence ministers in Vouliagmeni, near Athens.

"The roadmap which is going to be released is the roadmap we approve," Solana stressed.

He also said the creation of the Palestinian prime minister's post paved the way for new diplomatic initiatives to resolve the crisis.

"After the PM has been appointed in the Palestinian Authority ... (we) will be able to set in motion some of the decisions we wanted to put in motion," he said.

The roadmap, developed by the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, the so-called international diplomatic "quartet" on the Middle East, lays out a series of steps to create an independent Palestinian state by 2005.

Among those steps are an immediate end to anti-Israel attacks, a halt to Israeli settlement activities and a withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territories.

In February, Washington said the plan would have to wait until the formation of a new Israeli government as well as a change in Palestinian leadership.

Israel had proposed up to 100 amendments to the roadmap peace plan.