U.S. President George W. Bush will visit the Middle East in January to press the Israelis and Palestinians to restart installed peace talks, the White House said on Tuesday.

 

"The president will go to the Mideast region in early January," said Gordon Johndroe, spokesman for the White House National Security Council.

 

But the spokesman did not give details on Bush's visit.

 

The move came one week after the United States hosted a Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland on Nov. 27, in which Bush announced that Palestinian and Israeli leaders reached an agreement on the framework for future negotiations at the international gathering.

 

Nearly 50 countries and international organizations attended the Middle East peace conference, the largest since the Bush administration took office in 2000.

 

However, analysts have expressed pessimism over the prospect of the peace conference as the Israelis and Palestinians fail to narrow their differences.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 5, 2007)