US President Bush yesterday invited newly elected Palestinian leader Mr Mahmoud Abbas to the White House, raising the prospect of US-sponsored peace negotiations and the start of a new chapter in the troubled history of the Middle East. Conor O'Clery in New York and Michael Jansen in Ramallah report
Mr Ariel Sharon is also ready to meet the new Palestinian leader "as soon as possible", according to a top aide of the Israeli prime minister.
Mr Abbas, who won Sunday's Palestinian presidential election with 62 per cent of the vote, reiterated Palestinian demands for an independent state in all of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital and repatriation of Palestinian refugees who fled Israel in 1948.
Mr Bush always refused to meet the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, regarding him as an obstacle to a settlement, but yesterday went out of his way to congratulate Mr Abbas.
"I look forward to welcoming him here to Washington if he chooses to come here," Mr Bush told reporters in the Oval Office.
Israel "can play and must play an important part" in the development of a Palestinian state, Mr Bush said in response to questions, and it was "very important for Israel to fulfil its obligation on the withdrawal from the territories that they have pledged to withdraw from". Israel must also keep a vision of two states living side by side in peace and support the development of Palestinian institutions, and the Palestinian leadership must revamp its security forces to combat militants, said Mr Bush, who also pledged support for a March conference in London on Palestinian reform.
EU foreign policy chief Mr Javier Solana met Mr Abbas yesterday and promised him all the support he needed from the European Union, saying there was "an avenue of optimism ... to make the dream of so many people into a reality".
Mr Abbas dedicated his victory to "the soul of Yasser Arafat and to our people and martyrs" and declared he would tackle the daunting problems faced by his people. "We face a difficult mission ahead. We must build our institutions, achieve security for our people ... give our prisoners freedom, give our fugitives a life of dignity and reach our goal of an independent state."
The victory of the moderate former Palestinian premier coincides with the emergence of a new coalition government in Israel that is preparing to withdraw all settlements from the Gaza Strip.
Mr Sharon said yesterday that Mr Abbas "will be assessed based on the way he will combat terrorism and dismantle its infrastructure".