A US-brokered Middle East peace summit has ended with an Israeli pledge to remove unauthorised Jewish outposts and a Palestinian pledge to root out terrorism.
Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon said Israel would begin immediately to remove illegal Jewish outposts.
"I want to reiterate that Israel is a society governed bythe rule of law. Thus we will begin immediately to evacuateunauthorised outposts," Mr Sharon said.
Mr Sharon was referring to mainly sparsely populated hilltopsettlements established without Israeli government permission in the West Bank after March 2001, the month he took office.
He did not say how many outposts would be uprooted under the"road map" to peace, but he also voiced support for US President's George W Bush's call for the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
"We can also reassure our Palestinian partners that weunderstand the importance of territorial contiguity in the West Bank for a viable Palestinian state," Mr Sharon said.
Palestinian prime minister Mr Mahmud Abbas pledged full efforts to end the armed uprising against Israeli occupation following the Jordan summit with Mr Sharon and US President George W. Bush. The summit was designed to realise the details of a plan contained in the internationally back "road map" for peace.
"We will exert our full efforts using all our resources to end the militarisation of the intifada, and we will succeed," Mr Abbas said, in a forceful declaration promising to meet Israeli and US demands.
"The armed intifada must end, and we must resort to peaceful means in our quest to end the occupation, the suffering of the Palestinians and the Israelis, and to establish our Palestinian state."
Saying that "there is no military solution to our conflict," Mr Abbas added, "We repeat our denunciation and renunciation of terrorism and violence against Israelis wherever they might be.
"Such methods are inconsistent with our religious and moral traditions and are a dangerous obstacle to the achievement of an independent, sovereign state. They are also in conflict with the kind of state we wish to build for ourselves - one based on human rights and the rule of law."
But he warned that "in order to succeed there must be a clear improvement in the lives of the Palestinians.
"Palestinians must live in dignity. Palestinians must be able to move, go to their jobs and schools, visit their families, and conduct a normal life. Palestinians must not be afraid for their lives, property or livelihood."
Noting the Palestinians' acceptance without reservations of the international Middle East peace plan known as the "road map", he said earlier in his statement, "The goal is two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.
"The process is one of direct negotiations to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, resolve all the permanent status issues, and end the occupation that began in 1967 under which Palestinians have suffered so much."
Mr Bush arrived in Jordan for the summit today after meeting with Arab leaders in Egypt yesterday.
Agencies