WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush will make his first visits to Israel and the West Bank since taking office as part of a January 8-16 Middle East peace-promoting trip, the White House said Tuesday.
Bush will also head to Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt as part of a follow-up effort stemming from a late-November peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, said spokeswoman Dana Perino.
The gathering culminated with an Israeli-Palestinian agreement to restart stalled talks with an eye on creating an independent Palestinian state living side by side at peace with Israel by the end of 2008.
During his visit, Bush will also discuss "developments in Iraq, the challenges presented by Iran, regional security, economic ties, and relations between the United States and its close allies," she said.
In Jerusalem, the president will meet with Israel's President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, and will hold talks in the West Bank with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and prime minister Salam Fayyad, she said.
"There is no trilateral meeting" grouping Bush and Israeli and Palestinian leaders, said Perino.
Bush visited Israel as governor of Texas but has not been there since taking office in January 2001. It will be the first visit there by a sitting US president since Bill Clinton went in December 1998.
"This visit will follow up on the progress made in Annapolis in helping Israelis and Palestinians to advance their efforts toward peace and achievement of the president's vision of two democratic states living side by side in peace and security as well as to encourage Israeli and Arab reconciliation," said Perino.
"This trip will also be an opportunity to reaffirm the enduring commitment of the United States to the security of our allies in the Middle East, especially with the Gulf nations," she said.
Perino flatly ruled out any talks between Bush and leaders of the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which won a majority in 2006 parliamentary elections and is pledged to Israel's destruction, and has ruled the Gaza Strip for the past six months.
"Hamas is a terrorist organization, he is not going to be talking with them," the spokeswoman told reporters.
The June takeover by Hamas effectively split the Palestinian territories in half, with Hamas ruling Gaza and the Western-backed Abbas's Palestinian Authority confined to the West Bank.
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12/18/2007 17:54 GMT