(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-09-24 15:57

Aboul Gheit said he thought most members of the Arab League committee would attend.

"I think that this meeting will encourage a lot of us to take part," he said. "That's a decision for each and every member of the committee. The majority, I think, will come."

Rice was in the Middle East last week and plans to return to the region soon to continue planning for the conference.

Her visit coincided with Israel's decision to declare the Gaza Strip, which the radical Hamas movement seized in June, as "hostile territory." That designation dealt a potential blow to efforts to bolster moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who now runs only the West Bank.

She conceded Sunday that "the road ahead is one that is very difficult." But she added: "There is a lot of commitment and hopefully this time we'll succeed."

In addition to the Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab League committee, those to be invited to the US-hosted conference will include the Quartet members and other major international players and donors, possibly including Japan, officials said.

The Quartet's special representative, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, gave his backing to the conference, saying it would be a crucial element in taking advantage of what he said was growing momentum in the peace process.

As a group the Quartet representatives -- Rice, Blair, UN chief Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU foreign affairs commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner -- echoed that sentiment.

"The Quartet will work for a successful international meeting and for the implementation of its conclusions," they said in a statement.

Sunday's meeting set the stage for meetings Bush will have in New York on Monday with Blair, Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

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