WASHINGTON, Jan 5: US President George Bush said on Saturday that his trip to the Middle East next week aimed to promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians and curtail Iran’s “aggressive ambitions.” “This is a region of great strategic importance to the United States, and I’m looking forward to my visit,” Bush, who leaves on Jan 8, said in his weekly radio address.

The US president is making his first trip in office to Israel and his first ever trip to the West Bank, and visit Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt before returning to Washington on Jan 16.

Bush said he planned to push Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to make progress on peace talks restarted at a US-championed conference in Annapolis, Maryland.

“This is difficult work. It will require tough decisions on complex questions. But I am optimistic about the prospects. And I will make clear that America is deeply committed to helping both parties,” Bush said.

He did not renew his confidence about creating an independent Palestinian state living at peace with Israel by the time he leaves office in January 2009 — the goal laid out at Annapolis.

Bush said he would urge leaders at his other destinations to help move the process forward, and declared he would “will discuss the importance of countering the aggressive ambitions of Iran.” Bush was expected to work to convince US allies that Iran is a serious threat after a US intelligence finding, made public in December, said Tehran had halted a secret nuclear weapons program in 2003.

“And I will assure them that America’s commitment to the security of our friends in the region is strong and enduring,” said the US president. “America will stay engaged in the region.”—AFP