U.S. President George W. Bush said reaching a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians was possible within this year in his address to the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) on the Middle East here on Sunday.
"A peace agreement is in the Palestinians' interest, it is in Israel's interest, it is in Arab states' interest, and it is in the world's interest," Bush said in a special address to the WEF meeting.
The U.S. president said he firmly believed that with leadership and courage, "we can reach that peace agreement this year."
"This is a demanding task, and it requires action on all sides," Bush said, adding that Palestinians must fight terror and continue to build the institutions of a free and peaceful society, while Israel must make tough sacrifices for peace and ease restrictions on Palestinians.
The renewed resolve to Mideast peace came eight months before the end of Bush's eight-year tenure, the target date set by Washington for Israeli and Palestinian leaders to ink a peace agreement that will bring an end to the decades-old conflict.
On Saturday, Bush reassured his commitment to achieving an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by the end of the year.
Speaking to reporters after meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Egyptian Red Sea resort, Bush said he was "absolutely committed" to the objective to achieve the Mideast peace deal as "it breaks my heart" to see the suffering of the Palestinian people.
So far, there has been virtually no visible progress in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process since the two sides relaunched talks after the U.S.-hosted Mideast peace conference in late November, when a commitment was made to reach a peace deal before Bush leaves office in January.
Bush arrived here on Saturday, the last leg of his five-day Mideast tour which was the second one this year and has already taken him to Israel and Saudi Arabia.
The WEF kicked off its annual meeting on the Middle East at the Red Sea resort earlier in the day. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak inaugurated the meeting by giving a keynote speech at the opening session.
The three-day event brought together over 1,500 high-ranking officials, leading business figures, leaders of civil society and the media from some 60 countries and regions.
With the theme of "Learning from the Future," the conference will focus on a series of futuristic scenarios that explore the impact of long-term global trends on the Middle East.
Some hot topics, such as regional tourism, water resources, sustainable development in the region, soaring food prices and the consequences of global inflation on Mideast, will also be high on the agenda of the international meeting.
Source:Xinhua
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