Whoops--Middle-East Peace?--Got a Conference about That in Four Days--Y'all Come
Bush Steps Up Diplomatic Effort As Annapolis Talks Draw Nearer
President Calls Key Leaders Before Arab League Meets in Cairo
By Robin Wright Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, November 22, 2007; Page A26
In a bit of last-minute diplomacy, President Bush called the leaders of Israel, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority yesterday to discuss details of the U.S. peace conference set to begin in Annapolis next week, as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the goal is to wrap up a peace deal to produce a Palestinian state by the time Bush leaves office. . .
. . . With just four days until delegations are expected to arrive, the Bush administration is still engaged in intense efforts to ensure that the key countries will indeed send top officials to the first Middle East peace conference since the 2000 Camp David talks.
. . . In two sessions with reporters yesterday, Rice said that the wider Arab world needs to be engaged "early and often" to give confidence to Israel that when a Pales…