The US State Department's top Middle East diplomat, Mr William Burns, left Washington last night for Egypt, first stop on his tour of the Middle East to advance President George W. Bush's new strategy for peace in the region.
"We have no illusions about the difficulties ahead," Secretary of State Colin Powell said in a statement.
"Progress must be made on all three tracks of our strategy if a lasting end to Israeli-Palestinian violence and progress toward our vision of two states - Israel and Palestine - living side-by-side in peace and security can be realized," he added.
Mr Burns' tour of the Middle East "will start in Egypt" today, a senior US official said here, adding that the dates for the other stops on his itinerary were not yet fixed.
After Egypt, he will travel to Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Lebanon.
Focusing on reform of Mr Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, "Burns will consult on how best to support serious efforts on the institution-building and political tracks," Mr Powell said in his statement.
The trip will precede that of CIA chief Mr George Tenet who will be looking at ways to reorganize the Palestinian Authority's security apparatus.
Mr Burns and Mr Tenet "will return to Washington for further review prior to President's Mubarak's visit next week," Mr Powell said in his statement, referring to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak's visit to the United States beginning June 8th.
AFP