International mediators presented the long-awaited Mideast peace plan today, just hours after Palestinian Prime Minister Mr Mahmoud Abbas was sworn in and after a suicide bomber linked to his political party killed himself and three others at a Tel Aviv bar.
US Ambassador Mr Daniel Kurtzer gave the plan to Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem, and representatives of the four parties in the Quartet of Mideast mediators delivered it to Mr Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
The so-called road map to peace was drafted by the Quartet, made up of the US, EU, UN and Russia.
The plan calls for an immediate ceasefire, a crackdown on Palestinian militants, an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian towns and the dismantling of Jewish settlements erected since 2001.
A Palestinian state with provisional borders could be established by year's end and full statehood within three years, according to the timetable.
"We've made our observations known to the United States as to how we view the road map," said Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Mr Mark Sofer.
"It is crucial that we do not talk peace by day and have Israelis blown up by night," he said. "We call on the new Palestinian prime minister to implement in practice what he has preached in public."
Mr Abbas was sworn in today and spoke out against the suicide bombing, saying, "We condemn this attack strongly."
A militant group tied to Mr Abbas' own Fatah movement claimed responsibility for the attack, along with the violent Islamic Hamas.
A spokesman for the Fatah-linked militia, the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, said the bombing was a message to the new prime minister that "nobody can disarm the resistance movements without a political solution."
The bombing underscored the difficulties Mr Abbas will face in disarming Palestinian militias - a key obligation in the first stage of the three-phase "road map" to Palestinian statehood.
Israeli Cabinet Minister Dan Naveh said the bombing indicated that "there are still many factions within the PLO and the Fatah that are interested in continuing the attacks. As long as Abbas is in his position but Arafat continues to go behind his back and encourages the terror, we will not see a change."
The United States and Israel have been boycotting Palestinian leader Mr Yasser Arafat, whom they accuse of abetting terrorism, and have welcomed the appointment of Mr Abbas, who has criticised the 31 month violent uprising.
The bomber, who the Al Aqsa spokesman said came from the West Bank town of Tulkarem, struck on Tel Aviv's seaside promenade, blowing himself up outside "Mike's Place," a pub popular with foreigners and just a few yards from the heavily guarded US Embassy.
A security guard stopped the bomber at the entrance to the crowded pub. The guard was badly wounded.
AP