Meanwhile Yossi Beilin, a former Labour minister, and Yasser Abed Rabbo, a former minister in the Palestinian Authority, has signed a similar agreement, known as the Genevaaccord, after two years of dogged negotiation.
Mr. Obama has also ordered that al Qaeda leaders are to be protected from "outrages on personal dignity" and "humiliating and degrading treatment" in accord with the Geneva Conventions.