US president sees ME treaty in a year: Bush calls for end to Israeli
 

[B][U][CENTER][SIZE="4"]US president sees ME treaty in a year: Bush calls for end to Israeli [/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B]occupation of Palestinian land

* US president calls upon Arab countries to reach out to Israel
* Palestinians are deeply sceptical about Bush’s ability to be an even-handed peace broker

RAMALLAH: US President George W Bush on Thursday predicted the signing of a Middle East peace treaty in a year and called for an end to Israel’s four-decade occupation of Palestinian land.

Giving an assessment of his talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders over the past two days, he said it was time for both to make “difficult choices” for peace to become a reality and allow the creation of a Palestinian state.

“There should be an end to the occupation that began in 1967,” he said on his return to Jerusalem from his first trip to the West Bank, where he held talks with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.

He said a peace deal should establish a state for the Palestinians “just like Israel is a homeland for the Jewish people”.

‘Reach out to Israel’ And as he prepared to leave later on Friday for a tour of Washington’s Gulf allies, he said: “I call upon the Arab countries to reach out to Israel, a step that is long overdue.”

Bush is hoping to clinch a major foreign policy victory before leaving office in January 2009 after the repeated failure of previous US administrations to broker peace.

“I believe it’s going to happen, that there’s going to be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office,” he said in Ramallah.

He said a Palestinian state had to be contiguous. “Swiss cheese isn’t going to work when it comes to the territory of a state.”

Ahead of Bush’s latest statement, a US official said the president had named General William Fraser to supervise Israeli and Palestinian compliance with a 2003 roadmap blueprint for the ME peace.

Sceptical Palestinians: Bush faces a difficult task to win over the hearts and minds of Palestinians, who are deeply sceptical about his ability to be an even-handed peace broker as Israel’s closest ally.

“I don’t believe he will do anything for the Palestinians,” said Mohammad Khaldi, a 64-year-old Ramallah resident.

Security forces used tear gas and batons to break up a protest, charging about 200 demonstrators who were chanting “Bush, war criminal!”, “Bush out!”

Bush also had harsh words for Hamas, saying the Islamist movement had brought nothing but “misery” to the Gaza Strip.

After meeting Olmert on Wednesday, Bush warned that violence against Israel from the increasingly isolated territory must stop before a peace deal could be sealed. afp