Bush announces Middle East trip
US President George W Bush has announced that he will be travelling to Jordan and Egypt next week.
The trip is part of the US administration’s efforts to reach a peace settlement in the Middle East.
Mr Bush will begin in Egypt, where he will meet Arab leaders at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
The tour will take place after the G8 summit of industrialised nations in Evian, France later this week.
The White House revealed that the President hopes to meet with both the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and the newly appointed Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan.
He is also due to travel to the Gulf state of Qatar to meet coalition troops involved in the war on Iraq, in Doha.
