Blair's road map bid

Tony Blair was today urgently trying to save the Middle East "road map" after George Bush appeared to abandon his former blueprint for peace.

Mr Blair was stepping in after a surprise deal between Mr Bush and Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon came out with a dramatic new carve-up of contested land in the West Bank.

The deal - which enraged Arab leaders - gave a serious new headache to Mr Blair, who had used the Middle East peace process to bolster support from Labour MPs for war in Iraq.

Labour backbench leaders immediately sounded the alarm over the new deal. Senior MP Clive Soley said Mr Bush appeared to have got it "badly wrong" and added: "There are aspects of it which are disturbing and which need to be negotiated properly."

Astonishment at the deal was also voiced by United Nations secretary-general Kofi Annan, while Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat warned it would trigger violence.

Under the new terms announced at the White House, Israel would permanently annex settlements seized after the 1967 Six-Day War - land which had been previously expected to pass to a new Palestinian state.

Mr Bush dismissed the idea of a "right to return" for Palestinian refugees to former homes in Israel. Praising Mr Sharon's courage, he said a new map was needed because the "realities" in the region had changed. Mr Blair gave a guarded welcome to the moves last night, calling on the international community to "seize the opportunity" to inject new life into the stalled peace process-But Palestinian premier Ahmed Qurei said the plan "kills the rights of the Palestinian people". He accused Mr Bush of giving himself "the right to make concessions on behalf of the Palestinians", adding: "We cannot accept this under any circumstances."

He said: "He is the first president who has legitimised the settlements in the Palestinian territories when he said that there will be no return to the borders of 1967."

Kofi Annan expressed dismay at "unilateral" action by the US and Israel. The UN chief 's spokesman said the issues should be discussed by all the parties and added: "He strongly believes that they should refrain from taking any steps that would pre-empt the outcome of such talks."

Mr Bush's endorsement of the Israeli plan will be popular among both Jewish voters and Right- wing Christian elements in the US, whose support is vital for his re-election campaign.

Meanwhile, Jewish settlers hurled stones at Israeli soldiers uprooting an outpost near the southern city of Hebron early today, slightly injuring one officer. Seven settlers were arrested.

Israel will step up the dismantling of scores of unauthorised settler outposts in the West Bank as a gesture to the US, Israeli political sources say.