Tuesday, April 12 2005 08:48 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Crawford, Texas: US President George W Bush yesterday (Apr 11, 2005) urged the Palestinians to support Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Gaza withdrawal plan and pushed Israel to freeze West Bank settlement activity.

After talks at Bush's Texas ranch, Bush and Sharon called on Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas to crack down on armed extremist groups that target Israel and recommitted themselves to the US-backed "roadmap" to Middle East peace.

"I remain strongly committed to the vision of two democratic States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security," the President said at a joint press conference after the meeting.

Bush said that he and Sharon agreed that the internationally drafted roadmap was "the only way forward", and urged Israel to dismantle any illegal outposts and not to expand a large West Bank settlement called Maale Adumim.

At the same time, the President again signalled his support for Israel to hold on to large blocs of territory in the West Bank, where Israeli plans to expand Maale Adumim have angered Palestinian leaders.

"I told the Prime Minister of my concern that Israel not undertake any activity that contravenes roadmap obligations or prejudices final status negotiations. Therefore, Israel should remove unauthorised outposts and meet its roadmap obligations regarding settlements in the West Bank," he said.

But "new realities on the ground make it unrealistic to expect that the outcome of final status negotiations will be a full and complete return on the armistice lines of 1949," said the President.

"It is realistic to expect that any final status agreement will be achieved only on the basis of mutually agreed changes that reflect these realities. That's the American view," said Bush.

"I will fulfil my commitment to you, Mr President, to remove unauthorised outposts and settlements. Israel will also meet all its obligations under the roadmap," said Sharon.

But the Prime Minister said that Maale Adumim, on the outskirts of Jerusalem, "would be part of Israel" and that there ought to be "contiguity between Maale Adumim and Jerusalem".

In the past, Israel has interpreted Bush's comments on demographic realities as a green light to hold on to the large settlements blocs such as Maaleh Adumim in any final peace agreement.

Both sides had hoped to focus the summit on Israel's forthcoming withdrawal of all troops and more than 8,000 Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip and four isolated West Bank settlements, known as the disengagement plan, due to start on July 20.

"I strongly support his courageous initiative to disengage from Gaza and part of the West Bank. The Prime Minister is willing to coordinate the implementation of the disengagement plan with the Palestinians. I urge the Palestinian leadership to accept his offer," said Bush.

Sharon reaffirmed his support for the creation of a Palestinian State with contiguous territory in the West Bank.

"We would like the Palestinians to govern themselves in their own State, a democratic State with territorial contiguity in Judea and Samaria, living side by side with Israel in peace and security," said the Prime Minister.