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Bush hopeful of a Middle East treaty before tenure ends

US President George W. Bush yesterday predicted that a Middle East peace treaty would be completed by the time he leaves office, but acknowledged the deadline would be difficult to meet because of Hamas militants' control of part of the land that would form an eventual independent Palestine.

Bush said he's convinced that both Israeli and Palestinian leaders understand "the importance of democratic states living side by side" in peace, and noted that he has a one-year deadline for progress on his watch.

"I'm on a timetable," he told reporters. "I've got 12 months."

He said he was not sure that the problem of Hamas, an Islamic militant group that took over Gaza in June, could be solved within that time frame.

Hamas, he said, was elected to help improve the lot of Palestinians, but "has delivered nothing but misery."

Standing alongside Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Bush said he was confident that "with proper help, the state of Palestine will emerge."

"I am confident that the status quo is unacceptable, Mr President, and we want to help you," he said.

Abbas called on Israel to fulfill its commitments under a US-backed Middle East peace plan known as the "roadmap," and said he hoped "this will be the year for the creation of peace."

Bush is on a three-day visit to Israel and the West Bank to show support for renewed Israeli and Palestinian peace talks following seven years of violence.

"The question is whether or not hard issues can be resolved and the vision emerges, so that the choice is clear amongst the Palestinians," Bush said. "The choice being: `Do you want this state? Or do you want the status quo? Do you want a future based upon a democratic state? Or do you want the same old stuff?'"

Even though it's Bush's first trip to the Palestinian West Bank, it generated little excitement among Palestinians, who are largely skeptical of his promises to try to move along Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

The US is perceived in the Palestinian areas as a staunch ally of Israel, at the expense of the Palestinians, but Abbas said Bush's visit "gives our people great hope."

Bush said he expected both Israelis and Palestinians to "honor their obligations under the roadmap" peace plan and that Israelis should help the Palestinians modernize their security forces.

The roadmap calls on Israel to halt settlement activity in the West Bank, while requiring the Palestinians to dismantle militant groups. Neither side has fully carried out its obligations.

In Jerusalem, Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev said: "Israel shares the belief that was expressed by both President Bush and President Abbas that the current status quo is far from desirable. The purpose of the process we're in now is to create a new reality that will be better for both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples."

In Gaza, Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum dismissed the Bush-Abbas meeting as "empty without results."

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