The US-sponsored conference is scheduled for November 26-28 in Annapolis, Maryland.
"The conference will signal broad international support for the Israeli and Palestinian leaders' courageous efforts and will be a launching point for negotiations leading to the establishment of a Palestinian state and the realization of Israeli-Palestinian peace," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington on Wednesday.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will host a dinner the preceding evening in Washington where President Bush will make a speech. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, David Welch, said the conference will offer an opportunity to initiate talks aimed at a wide-ranging
peace plan for the Middle East.
David Welch said, "It is devoted to a serious purpose -- that is launching negotiations towards a two-state solution. That has long been a request from the Arab countries and now they will see it being met. It is, in our judgment, an appropriate time for them to play a role in exercising their responsibility to lead toward comprehensive peace in West Asia too."
Both Palestinian President Mehmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert appointed negotiators to write a joint document of principles for a future peace deal to be presented in Annapolis. They, however, have not been able to agree on a detailed text and a more general joint statement is expected to be released at the conference.
