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The United Nations Security Council on Friday welcomed the presentation of the so-called Road Map to Israelis and Palestinians to achieve peace in the Middle East.
"The Security Council welcomes the presentation by the 'Quartet' to the parties of a Road Map to achieve the vision of two democratic states -- Israel and Palestine -- living side by side in peace and security," Council President Munir Akram of Pakistan said in a statement.
The council also welcomed the decision by the Palestinian Legislative Council to confirm Mahmoud Abbas as its first prime minister, he said.
The Security Council "calls upon the new Palestinian cabinet, the Israeli government, and all states in the region to work together to end terrorism and to achieve peace," he added.
The Middle East Quartet -- the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations -- presented the Road Map to the Israeli and Palestinian governments Wednesday after the Palestinian legislature endorsed Abbas' appointment.
The peace plan calls for a crackdown by Palestinians on terrorist activities, a comprehensive Palestinian political reform, a freeze on the construction of Israeli settlements, and a withdrawal of the Israeli troops from the territories occupied after the eruption of Palestinians' uprising in September 2000.
The key points of the plan are to establish a Palestinian state with provisional borders by the end of 2003 and reach agreement on its permanent status by 2005.
(Xinhua News Agency May 3, 2003)
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