White House details Bush’s Middle East tour

President Bush will visit Israel, the West Bank, Kuwait, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt in January, the White House announced Tuesday.

Bush will meet with the leaders of the countries to push peace in the region.

{mosads}“This visit will follow up on the progress made at Annapolis in helping Israelis and Palestinians to advance their efforts toward peace and achievement of the president’s vision of two democratic states living side by side in peace and security, as well as to encourage Israeli and Arab reconciliation,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters.

“We’re in communication with the leadership of those countries on a regular basis,” Perino said. “And the president said he's going to be committed to helping them continue to push forward so that they can realize what they have agreed on, which is a Palestinian state.”

Perino added that the visit will also highlight the U.S. commitment to helping its allies in the region and provide a forum for top-level talks on Iraq and Iran. However, the spokeswoman also noted that she does not anticipate that the president will visit Iraq while he is in the region.