The international "roadmap" to Middle East peace will be unveiled as early as next week, once the new Palestinian prime minister and his cabinet are confirmed, a US official said today.
"The roadmap will be issued as soon as Mahmoud Abbas is confirmed. It could be a just matter of days," the official based in the Middle East said.
The Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) is widely expected to approve Mr Abbas's appointment on Tuesday at a special session in the West Bank city of Ramallah. A senior Palestinian minister said he expected the road map to be released on Wednesday.
"This will be an important step towards reviving the peace process," Mr Nabil Shaath, the minister for planning and international cooperation, said in Gaza City.
Israel was more circumspect on the latest effort to end 31 months' bloodshed. "Let's see if he really gets in before talking about peace moves," said a source in Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office.
The United States and its so-called "Quartet" partners - the United Nations, European Union and Russia - formulated the road map in a bid to stem an uprising by Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, which were captured by Israel in 1967.
Under the plan, Palestinians would get statehood by 2005 in exchange for reining in militants. Israel would get security.
Yet Israel has balked at the reciprocal measures required by the plan, blaming the Palestinian Authority under President Yasser Arafat for waves of suicide bombings and other attacks. Mr Arafat has denied fomenting violence and endorsed the road map.
Though formulated last year, the plan was delayed as the United States went to war against Iraq. Washington has also echoed Israel's misgivings about Mr Arafat and wants to see an authoritative counterweight to him in the Palestinian leadership, which has been dogged by corruption charges.