President Bush Presents His Peace Plan for the Middle East to the Newly Sworn-in Palestinian Prime Minister - 2003-04-30

President Bush presented his peace plan for the Middle East, referred to as the 'Roadmap for Peace', to the newly sworn-in Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and the Israeli government. The swearing-in ceremony of Mahmoud Abbas was one of the conditions for the release of this multi-article plan. A delegation from the United States, the United Nations, the European Union, and Russia, which prepared and organized the Roadmap for Peace, was present today at the office of Mahmoud Abbas, the new Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, to officially submit the new plan to him. Earlier, Daniel Kurtzer, the U.S. Ambassador, presented a copy of this plan to Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister of Israel, at his residence in Jerusalem. The Palestinians have repeatedly called for the immediate implementation of this plan, but Israel has reservations about the Roadmap for Peace and seeks changes to it. The plan calls for an end to violence and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel by 2005. The new plan for establishing peace in the Middle East was presented just hours after a Palestinian suicide bomber detonated himself outside a crowded nightclub in Tel Aviv, killing himself and three Israelis. Dozens were also injured in this attack. The extremist groups Hamas and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade jointly claimed responsibility for this attack.