President George Bush Meets with Middle East Leaders, Peace Talks Continue

U.S. President George Bush continued his Middle East tour on Saturday, meeting with several leaders in hopes that a peace deal could be forged that would bring an end to the violence among Palestinians and Israelis in the region.

Bush met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas along with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Afghan leader Hamid Karzai and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak in Egypt as a last ditch effort to cement a deal before his presidency ends in November.

The likelihood of such a deal remains slim as both sides are at odds over significant demands. Bush was criticized by Mubarak for failing to adequately recognize the Palestinian cause during a speech in Israel earlier in the week.

Despite the criticism from Mubarak the President insisted that an independent Palestinian state is among the issues he believes could be achieved as he affirmed, “I believe we can get a state defined by the end of my presidency, and we'll work hard to achieve that objective.”

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