US President George W. Bush headed back to the Middle East yesterday facing broad skepticism over his chances of securing an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal before he leaves office in less than nine months.

His second trip to the region this year will get under way in Israel where celebrations of its 60th anniversary have been marred by a bribery scandal surrounding Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that could topple him and disrupt the peace process.

Bush also will be mindful of another crisis brewing next door in Lebanon, where a power struggle between the pro-Western government in Beirut and Iranian-backed Hezbollah could deal a further blow to US efforts to stabilize the Middle East.

With the clock ticking down on his administration, Bush will nudge Israelis and Palestinians to advance their faltering negotiations as he tries to salvage a foreign policy legacy encompassing more than the unpopular war in Iraq.

But expectations for progress remain low.

"It's hard to remember a less auspicious time to pursue Arab-Israeli peacemaking than right now," said Jon Alterman, a Middle East expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington.

Increasingly pessimistic about Bush's efforts, Israelis and Palestinians alike are starting to look past him to his successor who will be picked in the November election.

Further clouding peace hopes are questions about Olmert's future. The prime minister, who will meets Bush today, is facing widespread calls to resign over allegations he took bribes from a wealthy US businessman. Though he has denied wrongdoing, he has pledged to quit if indicted.

Many Israelis are ready to welcome Bush to their 60th birthday celebration, seeing him as the best ally the Jewish state has ever had in the White House, whereas much of the Arab world doubts his ability to be an even-handed peace broker.

Bush will stay out of the Palestinian areas and instead hold talks with Abbas at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday.

Also on Bush's agenda in Egypt is a meeting with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

Between visits to Israel and Egypt, Bush will stop in Saudi Arabia on Friday and again try to coax King Abdullah to help curb record oil prices, an appeal likely to fall on deaf ears.

Agencies

(China Daily 05/14/2008 page10)