SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, June 3 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - A U.S.-Arab summit hosted by this Egyptian Red Sea resort with the aim of re-launching the Middle East peace process closed its formal session Tuesday, June 3, with differences emerging to the fore.

The two sides locked horn over Arabs’ normalization of ties with the Jewish state which delayed the official opening of the summit, reported Egypt’s official MENA news agency.

The United States has asked Arabs to undertake measures of normalization with the Jewish state, the Egyptian agency said.

Arabs countered that they were not opposed to this in principle, but only in the framework of a comprehensive settlement of the Middle East conflict, it added.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was "satisfied the Arabs had accepted the roadmap but believed that concrete measures were needed such as encouraging normalization with Israel," a participant told Agence France-Presse (AFP), asking not to be named.

Powell said an accelerated normalization could "encourage the Israeli government to move forward on the peace process," he added.

The source noted that among the participants, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians had signed peace deals with Israel and that "the United States wanted more than that."

Before the summit begins, U.S. President George Bush held a 100-minute-long tete a tete meeting with the Arab leaders, al-Jazeera correspondent said on air, quoting informed sources.

Al-Jazeera said the disagreement focused on three main points; the form of the roadmap, the way it is implemented and the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

“Arab delegations insisted that Syria and Lebanon should be included in the roadmap for peace between Palestinians and Israel,” because parts of the two Arab countries’ territories are still occupied by the Jewish state.

The Arab delegations called for an all-out peaceful settlement in the region, said al-Jazeera.

The two parties also disagreed, as the Arab delegations insisted dismantling Jewish settlements should go in parallel with Palestinian security measures required under the roadmap.

Another bone of contention was the U.S. backtracking on earlier pledges to convene a national conference entrusted to select members of a national government in occupied Iraq.

The U.S. civil administrator of Iraq Paul Bremer said on Monday, June 2, he would form a 25-member council instead of holding the national conference.