WASHINGTON, March 16 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Friday thanked Saudi King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak for participating in a recent conference on Iraq and discussed Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, the White House said. Bush spoke to King Abdullah about "the effort to advance toward a Palestinian state and also peace between Israelis and Palestinians," White House spokesman Tony Snow said. Bush also spoke with Mubarak about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to the region next week, Snow said. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan said this week that they will seek a new push on an Arab peace plan with Israel at an Arab League summit later this month in Riyadh. The U.S. allies are seeking to push a Saudi initiative adopted at a 2002 Arab League summit in Beirut offering Israel normal ties with Arab countries in return for full withdrawal from land it occupied in the 1967 Middle East war. "The president made clear once again his commitment to a Palestinian state that can live side by side in peace with Israel," Snow said. U.S. officials sat down with adversaries from Iran and Syria at a regional conference in Baghdad earlier this month aimed at encouraging neighbors to help in stabilizing Iraq.
