CRAWFORD, April 12: US President George Bush and visiting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said on Monday they would welcome an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip if it occurs in the context of the roadmap to Middle East peace.

On Iraq, Mr Bush insisted the situation "has improved" after a "tough week" for US-led forces, while Mr Mubarak expressed "serious concerns" about resurgent violence there and called for a swift transfer to self-rule.

At a joint session with reporters after talks at Mr Bush's ranch, Mr Mubarak gave conditional approval to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's controversial plan for pulling all Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip.

"Any withdrawal from the occupied territory is very highly appreciated," said Mubarak, who warned that failure to link such action to the internationally brokered roadmap could inflame anti-Israeli passions.

"It will not be accepted by the public opinion in the area. So the withdrawal from Gaza, if it is a part from the roadmap, I think it will be very highly appreciated," he said.

Bush, noting he would discuss the initiative with Sharon at the White House on Wednesday, said that "if he were to decide to withdraw from the Gaza, it would be a positive development."

"We both are in agreement that if Israel makes the decision to withdraw, it doesn't replace the roadmap. It is a part of the roadmap, so that we can continue progress toward the two-state solution," Mr Bush said.

The US president reaffirmed his support for the tattered blueprint, despite failures to implement the measures it calls for ahead of the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

"The point is that the decision (by Israel to withdraw) doesn't replace the path toward the establishment of a Palestinian state that will provide hope for the Palestinian people," he said.

But he also warned that "there will never be a Palestinian state, in my judgment, if terrorists are willing to kill. And so, the first step we've all got to do is to work on the mutual security concerns of the region."

Amid active diplomatic contacts between the United States and Israel on the plan, Bush withheld his formal endorsement, saying "let's not prejudge what Prime Minister Sharon is going to tell me."

Mubarak, whose country gets more US aid than any other except Israel, said Cairo "could help a lot in Gaza by training the police, by giving them advice, by sending in some groups to make plans for them how to work." "And in that regard, we are ready to do," he said.

On Iraq, the Egyptian leader said that he had "conveyed to the president our serious concerns about the current state of affairs, particularly in the security and the humanitarian areas."

"I further stressed the importance of restoring Iraq's sovereignty as soon as possible within a context that preserves its territorial integrity and unites all Iraqis toward a common future," he added. -AFP