Bush announces Saudi trip

SAUDI TRIP: George Bush will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the formal establishment of US-Saudi relations. (AFP)

US President George W. Bush will visit Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt May 13-18 but has no plans for a joint peace summit with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, the White House said Monday.

Bush, who seeks a Middle East peace deal by year's end, will meet in Israel with President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and address the Knesset, Israel's parliament, said spokeswoman Dana Perino.

The US president, who has been pushing Israel and the Palestinians to agree on the outlines of a future Palestinian state, will then travel to Saudi Arabia for talks with King Abdullah.

In Egypt, Bush will meet with President Hosni Mubarak, Jordan's King Abdullah II, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, and deliver remarks at the World Economic Forum on the Middle East, said Perino.

With peace talks stalled and violence flaring up, "we're under no illusions that things are going to happen immediately," the spokeswoman told reporters.

"Things are very dynamic and fluid and we hope that they continue to push in the right direction. But we're going to have to push them faster than they've been going," she said.

"There's a lot of deep-seated history that has to be addressed if they're going to define a state by the end of the year. And we know how much hard work there is to be done, and that's one of the reasons that the president is going back to the region," she said.

The visit is anchored on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the modern state of Israel, where Bush will celebrate "close ties" between the US and its staunch ally.

In Saudi Arabia, Bush will commemorate the 75th anniversary of the formal establishment of US-Saudi relations, said Perino.

The visit also will focus on cooperation with US Mideast allies and "will reaffirm efforts toward peace and prosperity and our close work with regional allies to combat terrorism and promote freedom."

Bush's schedule as released did not include a joint summit with Olmert and Abbas at a time when Israel-Palestinian peace talks, launched with much fanfare at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, in November, have stalled.

"I wouldn't read too much into it," said Perino. "I think the Palestinian people are assured that the president is committed to helping them establish their own state."

"The president just met with president Abbas here, and then he was just there [the Middle East] back in January; as we said earlier, that the president would be going to Israel to celebrate the 60th anniversary," she said.

But Perino played down the lack of clear progress last week when Bush met separately with Jordan's king and with Abbas.

"I don't think anyone anticipated that there would be some sort of breakthrough," she said. "The breakthroughs are going to come between the Israelis and the Palestinians."

"That is where the negotiations are more mature for a peace settlement than they are in other parts of the region, because you have two leaders who are committed to it," said Perino.

Bush, whose term ends in January 2009, last visited the region in January.

RELATED: Bush begins Middle East tour

The peace effort is due to tackle some of the toughest issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the fate of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees, and what to do about Jewish settlements on the West Bank.

Abbas suspended the fortnightly talks at the beginning of March after an Israeli military operation in Gaza killed more than 130 people. They were only renewed earlier this month.

The situation has also been complicated by the violence in Gaza, which is run by Hamas militants, who seized control of the region last year after the Islamist movement rose to power in 2006 elections.

To view the ArabianBusiness.com special report on Bush's January tour of the Middle East, click here.

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