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UNITED States President George W Bush airs his views on the Palestinian political crisis during a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Tuesday in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC. Olmert arrived in Washington as the Bush administration appeared poised to lift the 15-month embargo on direct aid to the Palestinian territories after Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas sacked the Hamas-led unity government. Meanwhile, Israel has intensified its aerial bombardment on Gaza, which is now virtually under the control of Hamas.

The two leaders pledged to devise a plan to contain what they described as the militant Islamist threat in the Middle East. However, observers note that the two lame duck leaders face insurmountable political problems. Olmert is dogged with domestic woes and the US is bogged down in Iraq and Afghanistan.