WASHINGTON, June 20: The United States strove on Thursday to allay global concerns over US President George W. Bush’s delayed plan to lay out a vision for creating a Palestinian state while enhancing Israeli security.

Hoping to shore up support for the plan among leaders in the region as well as in Russia and Europe, Secretary of State Colin Powell too telephoned several foreign ministers, urging them to help create an environment in which Bush can effectively unveil his plan.

Powell telephoned Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and top EU diplomat Javier Solana, said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.

The top US diplomat urged his colleagues to impress upon the Palestinians in particular the need to rein in anti-Israel attacks, said Boucher.

As aides warned of a possible week-long wait for the much-anticipated speech, Bush assured Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon that his plan would “provide for security for Israel,” said White House spokesman Ari Fleischer.

In a 10-to-15-minute telephone call that Sharon initiated, Bush also “expressed his sympathy” to the families of the victims of two suicide bombings in as many days, which killed 26 Israelis and left scores more injured, he told reporters.

Those attacks, as well as Israel’s new policy of seizing and occupying Palestinian lands as long as such strikes persist, led the White House to put off Bush’s appeal for fear that it would fall on deaf ears.

“I’ll give it at the appropriate time,” Bush said of his plan, which is widely thought to include demands for sweeping Palestinian political and security reforms in exchange for a state with temporary borders.

In addition, US officials said Powell had told the ministers that Bush would not be making his announcement until he believed it would have a significant impact in the region.

The calls “are about the responsibility that everybody has, that we all have together, to try to create an environment to move forward,” Boucher said, stressing that Powell did not get into the substance of what Bush would have to say or when the president would say it.—AFP