Aqaba (Jordan): US President George W Bush said on June 4 that important progress has been made at the peace summit in Aqaba, while Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon has accepted territorial contiguity for a Palestinian state and the Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas pledged to end armed uprising, a foreign news agency reported.

Bush said hard work, good faith and courage from all sides could help make Middle East peace a reality. Today we make important progress towards that goal, he said in a statement at the close of the meeting.

The United States will send a team of monitors to the Middle East to help Israel and the Palestinians co- ordinate the implementation of the road map for peace, Bush said.

"We will place a mission on the ground led by Ambassador John Wolf. This mission will be charged with helping the parties move towards peace, monitoring their progress and stating clearly who is fulfilling their responsibilities," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he understood the principle of territorial contiguity for a future Palestinian state.

Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas pledged all efforts to end armed uprising against Israeli occupation. "We will exert our full efforts using all our resources to end the militarisation of the Intifada, he said in a declaration promising to meet Israeli and US demands.

"The armed Intifada must end, and we must resort to peaceful means in our quest to end the occupation, the suffering of the Palestinians and the Israelis, and to establish our Palestinian state," he said in a statement.

ANI