The Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers planned to hold preliminary talks today ahead of a meeting with President George W Bush next week to push forward a US-backed Middle East peace plan.

Israeli diplomatic sources confirmed the meeting between Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and Israel's Ariel Sharon. Earlier, the White House announced both men would meet Bush in Jordan when he visits Egypt, Jordan and Qatar from June 2 to 5.

In Washington, a Bush administration official said two senior officials in charge of Middle East policy would leave for the Middle East to prepare for Bush's meetings.

Assistant Secretary of State William Burns and Elliott Abrams, the National Security Council director responsible for the Middle East, would go first to Cairo, then Amman, Riyadh and Jerusalem, the official said.

In his first Israeli newspaper interview since taking office, Abbas said he would not settle for a temporary ceasefire by militants in a 32-month-old uprising for Palestinian statehood.
He demanded "absolute calm".

In continued violence early today, a 20-year-old Palestinian militant was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers in the West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian medics and military sources said.

Yesterday, Palestinian witnesses and security sources said Israeli forces shot dead a member of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's Force 17 security unit yesterday as he sat in his car. Israeli security officials denied any connection with the slaying in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

In the interview published yesterday in Israel's daily Haaretz, Abbas urged Israelis to shed their fears over the US-backed "road map" to peace.

"This is a historic opportunity to return to a track of normalcy," Abbas said. "Follow the map and don't waste time over details."

In their second meeting since Abbas took office in April, Sharon will focus on ways the Palestinian premier can reduce violence against Israelis so Israel can restore normal life to Palestinian towns, Israel radio said.

The road map outlines reciprocal steps leading to an end to violence and the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005. The Palestinians embraced it. Israel accepted it after Washington agreed to address most of its 14 reservations.

In an interview with Reuters, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, founder of the Islamic militant group Hamas, said the road map was "a trick" and Washington could not be trusted.

Islamic militants have claimed responsibility for most Israeli civilian deaths during the uprising.

Yassin said Hamas might suspend attacks inside Israel if Israel ended a military crackdown on Palestinians and released some 7000 prisoners, a proposal Israel has rejected.