( AFP ) - US President George W. Bush said Tuesday he was still "optimistic" about winning a Middle East peace deal before he leaves office but urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to do more.
"I'm still as optimistic as I was after Annapolis," he said as he met with Jordan's King Abdullah II, referring to the US-sponsored Middle East peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland, in November 2007.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in the region "making our views known, that we expect these leaders to step up and make hard decisions," said the US president, whose term ends in January 2009.