By NNN-KUNA
Washington : President George W.Bush, appearing at the White House with King Abdullah of Jordan, said he is optimistic that the Mideast peace process will reach a successful conclusion by the end of his presidency in 10 months.
The United States will remain engaged in helping convince Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas “that now is the time to formulate a vision of what a (Palestinian) state will look like,” Bush said.
He said he told King Abdullah during their White House meeting that “this is a major focus of my administration, and that I would like to see that vision, the process that we have started in Annapolis, finished prior to my departure from the presidency.” Bush was referring to the Mideast summit held late last year in nearby Annapolis, Maryland.
There is a timetable, Bush acknowledged, and that is the end of his presidency in January.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in the Middle East “making our views known, that we expect these leaders to step up and make hard decisions,” Bush said.
King Abdullah said he was “very, very pleased with the continued commitment that the president has to solve the longest, most outstanding issue in the Middle East — the Israeli-Palestinian process.”
Their White House talks will have “a very great response back in our part of the world when I will go back and report to many of my colleagues the president’s commitment to bringing a bright future to Israelis and Palestinians and to the whole area,” the King said.
Bush said he was optimistic because he is convinced that Olmert and Abbas “understand that this is now a key moment in achieving peace. Both leaders are committed to two democracies living side by side in peace.”
Abbas and Olmert understand that there must be a vision of what the Palestinian state will look like, and that agreements on borders, the Palestinian right of return and other issues must be worked out, Bush said.
“Both leaders understand that a vision that respects people and promotes freedom stands in stark contrast to the extremists, who are willing to murder people to stop the advance of democracy and to, you know, dash the ambitions of the Palestinians,” he added.
Bush said he believes Abbas and Olmert “ultimately will have the courage necessary to reach an agreement, and my job as the president, and my administration’s responsibilities, are to help them understand what is possible, and to keep them moving on a process.”
Asked if he was disappointed about the lack of resumption in peace talks, which Abbas suspended this week in the wake of the deadly Israeli military operations in Gaza, Bush said the peace process “always has two steps forward and one step back,” but that the parties must make sure “that it is only one step back.”
There are matters going on behind the scenes that are not apparent in the public arena, Bush said.
A Palestinian state must be a contiguous territory, Bush said. “It cannot look like Swiss cheese,” he added, referring to Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The Palestinians must understand “that this is an option available for them, and it will stand in stark contrast to the vision of Hamas, which has been nothing more than violence and deprivation,” Bush said.
The role of the United States is to help the parties “facilitate the bridging of gaps, if there are gaps, and that is exactly what our diplomacy is in the process of doing,” he said.
Bush stressed the importance of the Arab neighbours, citing the Jordanian King, as well as King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.
Abbas and Olmert will “need the support of the Arab world in order to make tough decisions,” Bush said. “But first it is up to them. And so I am optimistic that they can conclude tough negotiations, and we will try to facilitate that.”