DUBAI, March 15: Arab Gulf states Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates welcomed Saturday US and British statements on a “roadmap” for Middle East peace.

“Saudi Arabia had been attaching a great importance to the statement of US President George W. Bush in which he said that Washington was planning to resume the peace process in the Middle East through presenting a road map plan to the Palestinians and the Israelis”, said a Saudi official source.

The source, quoted by the Saudi Press Agency SPA, said: “Saudi Arabia also attached a great importance to the statement of British Premier Tony Blair which included the commitment of the United Kingdom on reaching a settlement for the Palestinian-Israeli dispute by 2005”.

The statement said that Saudi Arabia believes in the importance of a quick move forward to start the implementation of the roadmap plan and called for an end to the Israeli aggression against the unarmed Palestinian people.

An official source quoted by the Bahraini News Agency BNA said: “While the kingdom welcomes the statements, Bahrain is hoping that the US and Britain will continue in sponsoring the peace process for the sake of achieving security and stability in the Middle East and establishing of a Palestinian independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

United Arab Emirates leader Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan stressed the need now to implement the plan.

Bush said on Friday that the long-delayed “roadmap” for Middle East peace would be published as soon as the Palestinians confirm the appointment of a prime minister.

HAMAS, JIHAD: The militant Islamic resistance movements Hamas and Islamic Jihad rejected the Mideast peace proposals announced on Friday saying it was to gain more time and mislead the world’s public opinion.”—dpa