US President George W. Bush may stop in Qatar and Kuwait, and hold a Middle East peace summit in Egypt, after the June 1-3 G8 meeting in France, administration officials said.
Bush could decide to meet with Israel's prime ministers Ariel Sharon Israel and PA's Mahmud Abbas of the in Egypt, two officials said, according to AP.
One official said a decision on whether Bush, who leaves May 30 for a swing through Europe, would stop in the Middle East, may come as early as Sunday, when White House staff are supposed to return from the region.
Bush departs next week on a trip to Poland and St. Petersburg, Russia, for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and to Evian, France, for the G-8 summit conference.
The White House has confirmed that Bush is weighing a possible visit to US troops in the Middle East on the way back from the summit.
US officials said that Bush could meet with Sharon and Abbas at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
"We are fully engaged in trying to move the Middle East peace process forward," US Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters in Paris, where he was attending a G8 foreign ministers ahead of the June summit.
"You will see continued engagement on my part and of course on the part of the president in trying to get the parties together, get both parties to recognize that we have to end the terror and the violence, it must come to an end," he said.
"I'm quite confident that the president at some point in the future would welcome an opportunity to meet with prime minister Abbas, but that's all I can say about it right now," said Powell.
Sharon is expected soon to bring the U.S.-backed road map for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement to the cabinet for approval, using the draft that was submitted to both Israel and the Palestinians on April 30.
Before he does so, however, the United States has agreed to announce officially that Israel's comments on the map will be taken into account in its implementation, Haaretz reported. (Albawaba.com)
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