Bush kicks off Mideast tour amid regional turmoil.

JERUSALEM: US President George W. Bush flies into Israel on Wednesday where he hopes to push ahead with Middle East peace efforts while marking the 60th anniversary of the Jewish state.

But renewed turmoil in the region bodes ill for the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks that have produced little tangible progress since they were revived at a conference hosted by Bush in November following a seven-year hiatus.

His Middle East trip takes place against a backdrop of deadly sectarian fighting in Lebanon that Bush has blamed on Syria and Iran, and defiance from Hamas over conditions for a truce in the embattled and besieged Gaza Strip.

The US president will also visit Saudi Arabia to mark 75 years of US relations with the oil-rich kingdom, and hold talks in Egypt with regional leaders, including Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

He will not visit the Palestinian territories during his trip, which comes as Palestinians commemorate the exodus of hundreds of thousands of Arabs who lost their homes and their land when Israel was created in May 1948.

But the US president told the BBC Arabic service he had a message for the Palestinians: "I say to them that I care deeply about the Palestinian people and their future."

Israeli President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and a myriad of other dignitaries will welcome Bush to the sound of trumpets when his plane touches down at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv.

The visit is Bush s second since January -- after seven years in which he did not set foot in either Israel or the Palestinian territories.

His trip is anchored around the 60th anniversary of the creation of Israel but he also hopes to give new impetus to peace talks before his term ends in January.

The US president hopes a peace deal will shore up his legacy and has expressed confidence this could be done in the eight months left in his term.

"The vision of a (Palestinian) state is such a powerful notion and such an important notion for Israel s very existence, that I do believe that we have a chance to get something defined," Bush told reporters on the eve of the trip.

Olmert said on Tuesday "real progress" had been made in talks with the Palestinians and "understandings and agreements have been reached on very important matters."

"The discussions we are conducting with the Palestinian Authority are serious and very significant," Olmert said, without elaborating.

Bush was to hold talks on Wednesday with Olmert, who is embroiled in allegations he took bribes from a millionaire US financier and faces mounting calls to resign.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, Defence Minister Ehud Barak and armed forces chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi were to take part in the meeting.

[c] Muscat Press and Publishing House SAOC 2008

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