Bush predicts completion of Mideast treaty

RAMALLAH, West Bank - President Bush on Thursday predicted that a Mideast peace treaty would be completed by the time he leaves office. He said he's convinced that both Israeli and Palestinian leaders understand "the importance of democratic states living side by side" in peace.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, standing alongside Bush, called on Israel to fulfill its commitments to a Mideast peace plan, and said he hopes "this will be the year for the creation of peace."

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

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

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