United States President George W. Bush (centre) stands with Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (left) and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Israel-Palestinian peace conference at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis yesterday. - Reuters

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Reuters):

With a handshake, leaders of the United States, Israel and the Palestinians agreed yesterday to immediately launch Middle East peace talks with the goal of reaching a final accord by the end of 2008 .

President George W. Bush made the dramatic announcement at the opening of a 44-nation Middle East peace conference, with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas standing alongside him.

"We're off to a strong start," Bush told delegates to the day-long conference, which included 14 Arab states - among them Syria and Saudi Arabia - as well as major powers Russia, China, Britain and France.

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