U.S. President George W. Bush said Tuesday that the United States will remain engaged in the Middle East peace process and urged Israelis and Palestinians to move the process forward.
"The United States is engaged and will remain engaged in helping convince the prime minister of Israel and President Abbas that now is the time to formulate of what a state will look like," Bush said after his meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II in the White House.
"I assured His Majesty 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 said, referring to the international conference on the Middle East held at Annapolis, Maryland last November.
"I told His Majesty I am optimistic, still optimistic as I was after Annapolis," Bush said.
For his part, Abdullah said he is very pleased with the U.S. commitment to push forward the Middle East peace process and will work with the United States "to finally achieve a peace that will set the Middle East in the right direction."
The comments came after a fresh round of violence between the militant Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip that has left over 100Palestinians dead since Wednesday. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbbas announced on Sunday the suspension of peace talks with Israel.
The United States has called for an end to the deadly violence and a resumption of peace talks.
The United States hosted the Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland in November last year, when Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to reach a peace deal by the end of this year.
Source: Xinhua
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