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WASHINGTON - United States President George W. Bush and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert yesterday pledged to bolster Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, as Israel sought to tighten the screws on Hamas Islamists who control Gaza.
Bush and Olmert reaffirmed their commitment to the vision of a Palestinian state but offered no concrete plan to achieve a negotiated deal with Abbas while his new emergency cabinet rules only the West Bank and Gaza remains in Hamas' hands.
"He is the president of all the Palestinians," Bush said of Abbas, with Olmert at his side in the Oval Office. "He has spoken out for moderation. He is a voice that is a reasonable voice amongst the extremists in your neighbourhood."
Western powers have rallied behind Abbas with promises of renewed aid, hoping to contain damage from Hamas' violent takeover of the Gaza Strip last week and parlay it into revived peace moves between Palestinian moderates and Israel.
The object is to further isolate Hamas, branded a terrorist organisation by the US, Israel and the European Union. But to date that policy has only emboldened the militant group in its challenge to Abbas.
- REUTERS
