Bush seeks Arab support for Mideast peace
US President arrives at Kuwait, second stop on his regional tour of the Middle East. Bush administration does not expect blinding flash of Arab cooperation for Israel-Palestinian negotiations, says Secretary of State Rice
US President George W. Bush sought Arab support on Friday for a US-backed Mideast peace deal, but the Bush administration said not to expect a "blinding flash" of Arab cooperation for the restarted Israel-Palestinian negotiations.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, traveling with Bush, said it is unrealistic to expect Arab leaders to suddenly reach out to Israel, their historic enemy.
'No blinding flash'
"The Arab states took a big step in coming to Annapolis," where Bush brought together Israeli and Palestinian and other officials to launch the first peace negotiations in seven years, Rice said.
She added that as talks move forward between Israelis and Palestinians, the "Arabs will do more and more."
Rice said Bush's trip to the region and his return to Israel in May give both sides incentives to move ahead with the difficult discussions.
She said progress from the negotiations would come slowly, and that the two sides would seem far apart at times.
Bush visited this tiny oil-rich nation his father fought a war over and one of only two invited guests to skip the splashy Mideast conference in Annapolis, Md., That Bush hosted for the new peace negotiations.
Bush was meeting Sheik Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, emir of the wealthy nation that sits at the top of the Persian Gulf. While in Kuwait, Bush also was getting an update on Iraq's security and political status from his top military commander there, Gen. David Petraeus and US Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker.
The president wants Arab states to throw support to Abbas in his internal fight with Palestinian militants and give him the regional support necessary to sustain any peace deal he could work out with Israel.
Arabs came in force to Bush's Annapolis summit, and he had flattered them with frequent references to an Arab draft for peace that, like past US efforts, did not stick.
Close Arab allies including Egypt and Saudi Arabia had urged Bush to get more directly involved in Mideast peacemaking, saying the Palestinian plight seeded other conflicts and poisoned public opinion throughout the region.
Those states and others have adopted a wait-and-see attitude since Annapolis, and Bush's visit to the region is partly meant to nudge them off the fence.
