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WASHINGTON : US President George W. Bush on Wednesday promised the Israeli and Palestinian leaders his full support, seeking to overcome deep doubts on whether new peace talks can yield a hoped-for accord next year.
"I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't believe that peace was possible, and they wouldn't be here either if they didn't think peace was possible," Bush said with his two guests quietly looking on after White House talks.
"One thing I've assured both gentlemen is that the United States will be actively engaged in the process," Bush pledged. "We will use our power to help you as you come up with the necessary decisions to lay out a Palestinian state that will live side by side in peace with Israel."
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said that this week's US-hosted peace conference put back "on track" prospects for an independent Palestinian state.
"The result we reached makes us optimistic. We came with an aim and we think we have attained it," Abbas told journalists in Washington Wednesday.
Abbas and Olmert - like Bush, politically weakened - were to return home to confront sharp skepticism from friends and foes alike over the latest peace drive launched Tuesday at the US-championed conference in Annapolis, Maryland.
"Yesterday was an important day, it was a hopeful beginning. No matter how important yesterday was, it's not nearly as important as tomorrow and the days beyond," said Bush, who stressed the need for global support.
The US president, who called Middle East peace "something we all want," did not invite Abbas or Olmert to speak at the minutes-long event in the White House Rose Garden, and the three leaders did not shake hands.
The muted moment was in sharp contrast to the ebullient 1993 handshake on the nearby South Lawn between then US president Bill Clinton, late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The new peace push won a cautious show of support from the 22-member Arab League, whose chief Amr Mussa cited "misgivings" but warily welcomed the agreement to thaw negotiations which have been frozen during Bush's seven years in office.
"We want to give this opportunity a chance," Mussa said. "During the next two months we will test the Israelis' intentions to see if they are serious, or if this is just another game."
Amid an intense US diplomatic campaign to win over sceptics, all sides looked ahead to a December 12 meeting of Israelis and Palestinians, a December 17 donor's conference in Paris, a planned conference in Russia in early 2008, and bi-weekly meetings between Abbas and Olmert as agreed in Annapolis.
"The real challenge comes after Annapolis, with how things evolve to ensure the success of negotiations aimed at creating a Palestinian state before Bush leaves office," said Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Washington "can certainly understand people's scepticism" about the prospects for peace before Bush leaves office in January 2009, but hailed Annapolis as "a successful conference".
"The follow-through is really important, and it's going to take a lot of effort and time and commitment," she said. "People around the world would be sceptical after several decades and attempts to try to work this out."
Major differences remain over core issues like the status of Jerusalem, the borders of a future Palestinian state and the fate of Palestinian refugees.
But US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice touted newfound Arab support for a drive to end the six-decade conflict, including the Syrian and Saudi presence at Annapolis, as a reason "for hope and for optimism".
She also named former NATO commander, General James Jones, as the US government's new special envoy for security arrangements between a future Palestinian state and its neighbours.
Saudi Arabia and Syria, which do not recognise Israel, were among 50 countries and groups that sent delegates to Annapolis, where they saw the two sides pledge to seek a deal by late next year.
But within hours, Olmert said the deadline might slip, "but you have to start somewhere. And we are committed, absolutely, to help start it."
The relaunch of the peace talks met with scepticism in the region.
"Making Peace for the Cameras," read one headline in the Israeli tabloid Maariv.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose government backs Hamas and was not invited to Annapolis, dismissed the conference as "stillborn" and took another verbal shot at Israel, predicting its downfall. - AFP/ch
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