The US-sponsored Middle East peace conference will be held at Annapolis, Maryland, on Nov. 27, the State Department announced Tuesday night.

 

The US will host Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, members of the Arab League follow-on committee, members of the UN Security Council, members of the Group of Eight (G8) and other key international actors, said David Welch, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs.

 

US President George Bush will deliver a speech to open the meeting with Olmert and Abbas at the US Naval Academy, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will host the talks, he said.

 

"It will be a signal opportunity to launch the bilateral negotiations between the parties," said Welch, who is also US Middle East envoy.

 

Forty-nine countries, institutions and individuals, including select Arab states and other key nations with a stake in the Mideast peace process were invited to the international meeting, said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

 

More than 100 officials are expected to attend the meeting, including those from the European Union and smaller players such as Norway, Turkey and Senegal.

 

Prior to the announcement, Bush had a telephone discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin over, among other things, the coming Middle East conference, US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe said in a statement.

 

The United States and Russia are members of the so-called diplomatic "Quartet" for Middle East peace along with the European Union and the United Nations.

 

Bush announced in July plans for a US-sponsored Mideast peace conference in a bid to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace talks after a seven-year freeze.

 

(Xinhua News Agency November 21, 2007)