Sharon, Abbas Receive Middle East ‘Road Map’

The US ambassador to Israel presented Ariel Sharon, Israel's prime minister, with the long-awaited "road map" for Middle East peace on Wednesday.

Middle East mediators also presented the plan, drawn up by a quartet of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, to Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian prime minister.

Mr Abbas was sworn into office on Wednesday hours after a Palestinian suicide bomber killed at least three people and injured more than 46 at a café in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv.

The plan is seen as the best chance to end 31 months of violence in the region, but Israeli confidence in the process is likely to have been undermined by the latest bomb attack.

Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, spiritual leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas on Wednesday rejected the peace plan and vowed that there would be no respite in attacks on Israel.

"The road map aims to assure security for Israel at the expense of the security of our people. It is a plan to liquidate the Palestinian cause (for independence). It is rejected by us," told Reuters in Gaza City.

Israeli officials have said the new government of Mr Abbas will be judged on the measures it takes to curb Palestinian violence.

Tel Aviv police commander Yossi Sedbon told Israel Army Radio that Tuesday night's explosion was apparently set off when a security guard at the café prevented the bomber from entering.

The White House said President George W. Bush looked forward to working with the Palestinian Authority and the Israeli government.

Ari Fleischer, White House spokesman, said this was an "optimistic moment for events in the Middle East" and described Mahmoud Abbas as a prime minister "dedicated to moving the Palestinian people in a different direction, a direction away from violence".

"The president wants progress to move quickly," he added.

The EU said on Wednesday it would redirect its aid to the Palestinians towards the private sector and the social services instead of making direct payments to the Palestinian Authority.

Emma Udwin, EU spokeswoman, said the EUs current monthly donations of €10m which go towards paying the salaries of Palestinian public sector workers, would stop. They would be replaced by an €80m finance facility targeted on the payment of arrears to small enterprises and social services and €10m for technical assistance to promote public finance reforms.

The move came after Israel resumed transfers of tax revenues to the Palestinians late last year, which it had suspended at the onset of the Palestinian intifada in 2000.

The EU said unpaid bills to the private sector had weakened businesses and contributed to unemployment, and arrears to the social sector had weakened public health provision and increased overall poverty among Palestinians.

Chris Patten, EU external relations commissioner, said EU aid would continue to be linked to reform. "Our objectives remain the same: a stronger Palestinian Authority administration, better conditions for the Palestinian people and a continuing process of reform," he said.

Yassir Arafat, the Palestinian Authority president, on Tuesday bowed to the inevitable and endorsed the new prime minister's team after weeks of wrangling over its composition.

In a display of unity, the president and prime minister walked together into the assembly hall at Mr Arafat's Ramallah compound, where legislators and diplomats gathered for the vote.

The US and Israel have sought to isolate Mr Arafat from the peace process and the Bush administration saw the appointment of Mr Abbas as crucial to demonstrating that a new, moderate Palestinian leadership was in charge.

But Mr Arafat showed no sign he intends to move aside, speaking first and for longer than Mr Abbas's 30 minutes, in an address in which he found time to appeal for an end to the US occupation of "brotherly" Iraq.