"It's clear there are people there that still cannot stand the thought of peace, and therefore it reminds ... people in the region that if you're interested in moving the peace process, join us in fighting terror."
The bombings - five in 48 hours - killed about 16 people in Jerusalem, northern Israel, Gaza and the West Bank.
The first attack came shortly after Israeli and Palestinian officials met to discuss the plan and necessary security measures.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon canceled his trip to Washington to discuss objections to the "road map" that calls for a full Palestinian state by 2005 in exchange for security guarantees for Israel.
The "road map" -- put forward by the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations -- also calls upon Israel to stop building settlements in the occupied territories. Sharon has expressed opposition to that demand and has said Israel can only accept the plan once the Palestinians control the violence.
The spate of five attacks - the last one Monday - bring into question the ability of new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, known as Abu Mazen, to crack down on militant groups.
Bush condemned the bombings and said he understood Sharon's reason for postponing his trip.
"What's important now is that all the parties still have to focus on the fact that the 'road map' is the vision that can establish peace in the region," White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. "And the message, as the president unequivocally carried it today, is that the peace process begins best with actions by Palestinian authorities to crack down on those who would derail the peace."
Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat was elbowed aside by the United States in the peace process because of what it called his inability, or unwillingness, to rein in radical Palestinian groups such as Hamas, which is on the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist groups.
The United States had also accused Arafat of presiding over a corrupt system of leadership. The result was a series of changes in the Palestinian Authority and the creation of the prime ministership for the running of day-to-day government activities.
It presented the "road map" once Abu Mazen was elected prime minister.
"The 'road map' still stands," Bush said. "The vision of two states existing side by side is a real vision, and one that I will work toward.
"We're still on the road ... it's just going to be a bumpy road, and I'm not going to get off the road until we achieve the vision."
The United States and Israel both want Abu Mazen to curb violence by Palestinian groups. The Palestinians, however, argue that Israeli military action in the Palestinian territories spark the attacks.
In other developments Monday, Bush warned Americans to stay on guard in the war against terrorism. Progress had been made, he said, but it "is still a dangerous world we live in."
"Clearly, the attacks in Saudi Arabia mean that we've got to be alert here at home; that we've got to be diligent, that we've got to understand there is an al-Qaida group still actively plotting to kill."
Thirty-four people, including eight Americans, were killed in Riyadh last week when three housing compounds and a U.S.-Saudi business were bombed. An al-Qaida cell is believed to have been behind the incident, the worst in Saudi Arabia since the bombing of a U.S. military housing complex in the late 1990s.
In numerous public forums, Bush and other administration officials have touted the disruption of al-Qaida since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, but have warned terror cells still exist.
Unconfirmed news reports have indicated some top al-Qaida people may be in Iran, where they are being given sanctuary.
Fleischer said Monday the United States has had "long-standing concerns" about the presence of al-Qaida in Iran and that those concerns had been communicated to the government in Tehran.
Copyright 2003 by United Press International.
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