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Bush and Abbas meet in New York Quartet backs Palestinian efforts
(30 minutes later)
US President George Bush has described Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as a "man of peace" during talks on the fringe of the UN General Assembly. The US and the three other members of the so-called quartet of Mid-East mediators have endorsed the idea of a Palestinian national unity government.
Mr Bush said achieving peace in the Middle East was one of the great objectives of his presidency. The US, EU, Russia and the UN said they would boost indirect aid through a channel bypassing the current Hamas-led Palestinian government.
Mr Abbas praised Mr Bush's speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday, when he advocated a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is seeking to replace the Hamas government with one including his Fatah faction.
Mr Abbas also said Palestinians were in "dire need" of US help. Hamas's enmity towards Israel has led to curbs on aid to the territories.
The Middle East quartet - the diplomatic steering group on the Middle East comprising the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations - is also meeting on the margins of the General Assembly in New York. The quartet's announcement followed talks at the UN in New York and a meeting between Mr Abbas and US President George W Bush.
At a joint news conference in New York, Mr Bush said: "I fully understand that in order to achieve this vision, there must be a leader willing to speak out and act on behalf of people who yearn for peace, and you're such a leader, Mr President. "The quartet welcomes the efforts of [Mr] Abbas... in the hope that the platform of such a government would reflect quartet principles and allow for early engagement," the quartet's joint statement said.
It also agreed to extend and expand a temporary international mechanism to channel aid to the Palestinians bypassing Hamas.
'Man of peace'
At their talks, Mr Bush described Mahmoud Abbas as a "man of peace" and added that achieving peace in the Middle East was one of the great objectives of his presidency.
Today we go to the employment offices like beggars. We go to the welfare associations like beggars. Even our own sense of self-worth has been lost Ibrahim al-ToulGaza carpenter Sanctions prolong Gazan despairToday we go to the employment offices like beggars. We go to the welfare associations like beggars. Even our own sense of self-worth has been lost Ibrahim al-ToulGaza carpenter Sanctions prolong Gazan despair
"I can't thank you enough for the courage you have shown. I assure you that our government wants to work with you, so that you're capable of delivering the vision that so many Palestinians long for, and that is a society in which they can raise their children in peace and hope." "I fully understand that in order to achieve this vision, there must be a leader willing to speak out and act on behalf of people who yearn for peace, and you're such a leader, Mr President," he said at a joint news conference in New York.
Mr Abbas said: "I would like to thank you greatly for the wonderful speech in which you talked about the Palestinian issue before the United Nations, and about the vision you have adopted of two states. "Our government wants to work with you, so that you're capable of delivering the vision that so many Palestinians long for, and that is a society in which they can raise their children in peace and hope."
"You are the first American president to have spoken of the vision of two states." Mr Abbas praised Mr Bush's speech to the General Assembly on Tuesday, when he advocated a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict.
But the US position of denying direct aid to the Palestinian Authority, under the control of the Hamas militant group, was "unchanged", although Washington is providing indirect humanitarian aid, deputy US national security adviser Elliott Abrams is quoted as saying by the AFP news agency. "You are the first American president to have spoken of the vision of two states," he said.
He also said that Palestinians were in "dire need" of US help.
Diplomatic momentumDiplomatic momentum
With the main Palestinian factions, Hamas and Fatah, on the brink of forming a national unity government, there are many leaders at the United Nations who think the moment has come to muster a renewed diplomatic effort to try to get Palestinians and Israelis back on the path to peace, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent, Jonathan Marcus, in New York. There are many leaders at the UN who think the moment has come to muster a renewed diplomatic effort to try to get Palestinians and Israelis back on the path to peace, says BBC diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus.
There is an emerging consensus that the Arab -Israeli dispute is not just another regional crisis like any other (UN Secretary General Kofi Annan's view) and that it is the epicentre of global instability (that from French President Jacques Chirac), our correspondent says. There is an emerging consensus that the Arab-Israeli dispute is not just another regional crisis and that it is the epicentre of global instability, our correspondent adds.
Even Mr Bush has talked about mounting a new diplomatic initiative in the region. The goals would be both practical and diplomatic - an effort to alleviate suffering among the Palestinians, and an effort to create some political horizon, some realisable goal that would move the various parties forward, he says.
The goals would be both practical and diplomatic - an effort to alleviate suffering among the Palestinians, and an effort to create some political horizon, some realisable goal that would move the various parties forward.