Bush expects Israeli-Palestinian settlement in 2008

RAMALLAH, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George Bush on Thursday said he expected that Israel and the Palestinians would reach a final peace treaty in 2008 before his term as a president ends.

Bush and Abbas held talks for around an hour and half at Abbas office in West Bank city of Ramallah in a visit described as historic. Bush's three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories came to encourage peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) which are making slow progress due to obstacles.

In a joint news conference with Abbas, Bush said that "future Palestinian state must be made of contiguous territory," urging the Israelis and the Palestinians to resolve their differences over the core issues.

Bush said that he had concluded that both the Israelis and the Palestinians were committed to peace, promising that his administration will remain "very much engaged" in peace negotiations.

"I'm confident that with proper help, the state of Palestine will emerge... I am confident that the status quo is unacceptable," he told Abbas.

Israel continued expanding West Bank settlements despite the U.S.-backed Road Map peace plans stipulates immediate suspension of the settlement activities, including the natural growth of the outposts.

Asked about settlement, Bush said that "each side has got obligations under the road map... we have made our concerns about the expansion of settlements known."

The settlement activities were the main obstacles which made the negotiations mark time since they were launched on Dec. 12 as a result of the U.S.-hosed peace conference in Annapolis in November.

Back to the Road Map, which also calls for strengthening the Palestinian security services, Bush said he believes "the security forces are improving... my message to the Israelis is that they ought to help, not hinder, the modernization of the Palestinian security forces," Bush said.

Meanwhile, Abbas said he was satisfied with the meeting he had with visiting U.S. President George Bush.

"The talks have focused on all the issues, even those which you did not think about," Abbas told reporters in a joint news conference with Bush. "We are agreed on all topics."

He added that the peace in the Middle East starts from "the Holy Land in Palestine."

"We have great hopes that during 2008 we will reach the final status and a peace treaty with Israel," Abbas went on, adding that the Palestinians want an independent statehood "with Jerusalem as its capital and an end to the refugee problem, in accordance with UN decisions."

"We want to move freely in our country without borders or fence or settlements... We want to see a different future, without thousands of prisoners and innocent deaths. We want to stop the closure," Abbas continued.

Bush appeared to be understanding to the Israeli measures in the West Bank, especially the roadblocks and the separation wall. "I can understand that... The checkpoints create security for Israel and they create frustrations for Palestinians."

Abbas also hailed Bush's "commitment to achieve his vision of establishing an independent Palestinian statehood.

"Our people, who selected the peace as a strategic choice, want to see this vision coming into being by your support and commitment," Abbas addressed Bush.

Bush added that terrorists were trying to ruin Palestinian hopes for statehood, saying that Abbas "knows that a handful of people want to dash the expectations of the Palestinian people... I appreciate your understanding that the way to achieve peace is to offer an alternative vision of liberty."

Speaking about Gaza, which the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) took by force in June last year from pro-Abbas force, Bush said that "there is a competing vision taking place in Gaza. Hamas... has delivered nothing but misery. I'm convinced his (Abbas') government will yield a hopeful future."

Abbas echoed the sentiments, saying "Hamas has to retreat from its coup, then we can talk."