Washington has moved to deny Europe a role in monitoring progress along the international road-map to a Palestinian state.

President Bush will today meet Arab leaders in Egypt before hosting a formal Middle East summit between Israelis and Palestinians from which European diplomats have been excluded.

An Israeli official told The Independent yesterday: "There will be no Europeans involved in the monitoring process. This has been a clear understanding between Israel and the United States."

Bush has said he will "spend as much time as necessary" to resolve the conflict.