Bush wraps up peace mission to Holy Land

JERUSALEM -- President Bush ended the first leg of the most extensive Mideast trip of his presidency on Friday after visiting Israel's Holocaust memorial and several Biblical sites.
Before heading to his next scheduled stop in Kuwait, Bush helicoptered to the Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv for a red-carpet departure ceremony attended by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Earlier at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, Bush laid a wreath for millions of Jews killed by Nazi Germany during World War II.
The president also flew via Marine One on Friday to Galilee, where he visited several Biblical sites including Capernicum and Mount of the Beatitudes.
Next, Bush heads to the nation that his father, President George H.W. Bush, freed from Iraqi occupation in 1991's Persian Gulf War.
Now used as a base for U.S. forces, Kuwait will host Bush as he meets with Iraq war commander Gen. David Petraeus and other U.S. troops.
Bush also is scheduled to join a roundtable with Kuwaiti women on democracy and development.
On Thursday Bush capped off two days of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders aimed at spurring the Mideast peace process.
He called on both sides to make "painful" concessions to reach a peace agreement, including dismantling "terrorist infrastructure" and ending Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories.
"There should be an end to the occupation that began in 1967," Bush told reporters in Jerusalem. "The agreement must establish a Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people, just as Israel is a homeland for the Jewish people."
Bush also called on Palestinians to confront terrorists and dismantle "terrorist infrastructure." "Security is fundamental," Bush said. "No agreement and no Palestinian state will be born of terror." Bush also appealed for "Arab countries to reach out to Israel."