Bush in landmark Middle East visit to boost peace talks

President George W. Bush launches a landmark Middle East trip Wednesday, visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories for the first time as US leader in a bid to seal a peace deal before he steps down.

The historic voyage follows a pledge he made at a key Middle East peace conference in Annapolis in November to help chaperon the two sides as they seek to forge a deal for a Palestinian state by the end of 2008.

Despite widespread skepticism, Bush says he is optimistic about the trip during which he will also seek to reassure key US allies in the Gulf that Washington will help them confront Iran’s growing regional influence.

He told regional newspapers he believed Israel and the Palestinians could overcome six decades of animosity to reach an historic peace deal.

“I am very optimistic that such a vision will come into being by the time I leave office,” he said.

“I am looking forward to sitting down with friends and allies to assure them of my commitment to the Middle Eastern peace and to work with them to make sure they are committed to Middle Eastern peace.”

The Bush administration has often been criticized for ignoring the Middle East conflict to focus on other issues, or for blindly serving Israel’s interests.

But the Annapolis conference held in November gathered more than 50 countries, including Syria, and was the most important US bid to play a role in the conflict in the seven years of Bush’s presidency.

Bush is due to arrive in Tel Aviv on Wednesday and will spend three days in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. His trip the first by a US president to Israel in nine years is the most important sign yet to both sides and to their neighbors that he intends to stick by his pledge to help hammer out an accord.

However, he also wants to make sure that the leaders on the two sides and other countries in the region are truely committed to the process.

The long trip which lasts until January 16 will also take the US president to Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

The chances of a deal before Bush leaves the White House in January 2009 appear slim, however, with numerous issues to resolve, including the return of Palestinian refugees, the status of Jerusalem claimed by both sides as a capital and the borders of a Palestinian state.

Washington, Sunday AFP