Evian, June 03: G8 leaders lent their backing to the Middle East peace roadmap today as US President George W. Bush launched his first peace mission in the troubled region, and voiced support for a global settlement covering Syria and Lebanon. "We welcomed the approval by the Palestinians and by Israel of the quartet roadmap and emphasised our determination to jointly support its implementation," the Group of Eight said in a statement under the headline "Israel and Palestine."
"We discussed the desirability of reaching a comprehensive peace settlement that includes Syria and Lebanon," said the statement, issued at the end of a three-day summit in the French resort of Evian.
The internationally-backed roadmap lists steps for an end to more than 32 months of Israeli-Palestinian violence, calls for a halt to Jewish settlements in occupied territory and the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
Bush, who has until now kept out of the Middle East minefield, left the G8 summit early for twin summits on the Red Sea aimed at advancing peace based on the roadmap drawn up by Russia, the US, the European Union and the UN.
In their statement, the G8 leaders also said they had asked their governments to examine as soon as possible "measures necessary to support a plan for the revitalisation and reconstruction of the Palestinian economy."
Calls have mounted for members of the so-called international quartet to now turn their attention to Lebanon and its political master Syria, still technically at war with neighbouring Israel. Bureau Report