By Xinhua
Ramallah : U.S. President George W. Bush said on Thursday that he believes an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty will be signed before he leaves office.
Bush made the remarks while holding a joint news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after their meeting at the headquarters of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The U.S. president said he’s here to nudge the peace process between the two sides forward, stressing that the Israelis are help but not a hinder during the process.
He said he concluded that both the Israelis and the Palestinians are committed to peace, which gave him great confidence.
“I’m confident that with proper help, the state of Palestine will emerge… I am confident that the status quo is unacceptable. And we want to help you,” Bush said, pledging that his administration will remain “very much engaged” in peace negotiations.
He, however, stressed that some terrorists are trying to ruin Palestinian hopes for statehood, saying that Abbas “knows that a handful of people want to dash the expectations of the Palestinian people… I appreciate your understanding that the way to achieve peace is to offer an alternative vision of liberty.” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, for his part, hailed Bush’s “commitment to achieve his vision of establishing an independent Palestinian statehood.
“Our people, who selected the peace as a strategic choice, want to see this vision coming into being by your support and commitment,” Abbas addressed Bush.
Abbas said the peace in the Middle East starts from “the Holy Land in Palestine.” He called on Israel to fulfill its commitments to a Mideast peace plan, saying he hopes “this will be the year for the creation of peace.”
The Palestinian president noted the Israeli settlement issues for special, saying the settlement are obstacles to Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
But as for the earlier statements by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on settlement issues, the Palestinian President thinks they are positive.
Rice told an Israeli newspaper earlier this week that Washington opposes Israeli settlement construction, including in east Jerusalem.
Bush, who is on his first official visit to the region as the U.S. president, met Abbas for nearly an hour at the latter’s office in Ramallah.