US President George W. Bush urged Israel and the Palestinians on Thursday to live up to their obligations under the Middle East peace "road map".

"Israel must continue to take steps toward a peaceful future and not take steps that contradicts road map obligations" that call for the creation of an independent Palestinian state on lands captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war, Bush said at a joint press conference with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.

Stressing that Israel must "remove unauthorized outposts and stop settlement expansions," Bush also said that the Palestinians must end violence against Israelis.

Bush said he had asked Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to travel to Jerusalem and Ramallah before the Israeli withdrawal.

Addressing the press conference, Bush also announced that the United States will pay US$ 50 million in housing aid for Palestinians in Gaza once the Israel withdrawal set for this summer is complete.

Bush supports the Palestinian goal of a democratic state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip with Arab East Jerusalem as its capital.

On the planned Palestinian state, Abbas told reporters that "when we talk about two states, we are talking about a Palestinian state within the boundaries of 1967. That means those boundaries in our view should go back to the Palestinian people."

Abbas also reiterated Palestinian objections to a barrier being built by Israel to protect its territory, saying "there is no justification for the wall and it is illegitimate and well as settlements - it is illegitimate and we should not allow."

Referring to democracy, Abbas expressed commitment to establishing a Palestinian democracy.

"I am saying when we have chosen democracy as a way of life this was not an adventure, this was a determination and a strategy that democracy is the only way to move forward," Abbas said.
 
"But democracy is like a coin, it has two sides, on the one side is democracy and the other side is freedom. ... Now we lack freedom ... We do not live in freedom in our homeland," he added.

(Xinhua News Agency May 27, 2005)