Bush heads to Mideast on peace drive

US President George W. Bush was heading to Jerusalem on Wednesday to take his drive for lasting Middle East peace to the volatile region where he faces protests and spiking tensions with Iran.

Bush is flying on Air Force One for his first visit to Israel and the West Bank, seeking a foreign-policy triumph in his last year in office, and to rally support of Arab allies in the face of what he calls the Iranian “threat.”

Israeli and Palestinian authorities have set up a a massive security operation amid threats of violence, including a call by US member of Al-Qaeda who urged followers to greet Bush with “bombs not flowers.”

The US president is vowing to advance Middle East peace talks revived just six weeks ago at a US conference, with an eye on creating an independent Palestinian state before his term ends in January 2009.

Before his departure, Bush told reporters he hoped to have “outlines of a state clearly defined, so that at some point in time, the Palestinians who agree that Israel ought to exist and agree that a state ought to live side by side with Israel in peace, have something to be for.”

“They need to have a vision that’s clearly defined that competes with the terrorists and the killers who murder the innocent people to stop the advance of democracy.”

On the eve of his visit, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas agreed to start negotiations on the key issues at the heart of their conflict — borders, Jewish settlements, Jerusalem and refugees.

The two met in a bid to revitalise talks that have stumbled over Israel’s recent plans to expand settlements on occupied land and its intensifying assaults against Palestinian militants.

In Gaza, a gunmen from the radical Islamic Jihad was killed by Israeli troops, bringing the death toll since the peace process was relaunched at the US conference in November to around 100, mostly Palestinian militants.

There is widespread scepticism in the Arab world of Bush’s chances of achieving any real peace breakthrough, amid criticism that Washington is too partial to the whims of its key ally, Israel.

And US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is travelling with Bush, played down expectations, telling the BBC: “We shouldn’t expect that there are going to be any great breakthroughs on this trip.”

Meanwhile Hillary Rodham Clinton won New Hampshire’s Democratic primary Tuesday night in a startling upset, defeating Barack Obama and resurrecting her bid for the White House. John McCain won the Republican race, completing a remarkable comeback and climbing back into contention for the US presidential nomination.

Washinton,Wednesday, AFP