Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, June 03: Arab leaders, meeting with US President George W Bush as he entered the labyrinth of Mideast peace negotiations, pledged today to fight terror and violence and called on Israel to "rebuild trust and restore normal Palestinian life.'' Bush called on the Arabs to fight terror at every turn on the road to peace.

Terror threatens the United States, Israel and the emergence of a Palestinian state, he said. "Terror must be opposed and it must be defeated,'' Bush said.

Today's meeting served as a prelude to face-to-face talks tomorrow among Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his counterpart, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, in Jordan.

"We meet in Sinai at a moment of promise for the cause of peace in the Middle East,'' Bush said, standing at the edge of the Red Sea, with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at his side.

Mubarak, serving as summit host, read a statement on behalf of four other Arab leaders, who sat behind him and Bush. They embraced the internationally crafted "road map'' for peace, which calls for an independent Palestinian state by 2005.

"This vision means that alongside the existing state of Israel, a new state for the Palestinians will emerge," Mubarak said.

"We support the determination of the Palestinian Authority to fulfill its responsibilities to end violence and to restore law and order,'' Mubarak said as Abbas looked on.

Bureau Report