U.S. envoy Zinni going back to Mideast

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- With Israeli-Palestinian violence escalating, President Bush announced Thursday that he is sending special Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni back to the region next week.

Bush emphasized Palestinians and Israelis must do more to stop the bloodshed in order to "achieve a lasting peace." And while Bush has been muted in his criticism of recent Israeli attacks, he said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon must use restraint in his policies.

"I hope that my friend Prime Minister Sharon agrees with that assessment. I think he recognizes that he cannot achieve peace by allowing violence to escalate or causing violence to escalate," Bush said.

Zinni's return to the region comes at a time when violence is raging, and it represents a shift in policy by the administration: Previously, U.S. officials had said he would only return to the Middle East if the violence had subsided.

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In the last week, more than 100 Israelis and Palestinians, including numerous children, have been killed in the back-and-forth violence. Bush's announcement came two days after Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak appealed to Bush to increase the level of U.S. diplomatic involvement in the crisis. (More on the week of violence)

Zinni, a retired Marine general and former chief of the U.S. Central Command, was in the region last December trying to prod the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table when a surge in violence led officials to call him back to Washington.

At the time, Palestinian and Israeli officials said they hoped Zinni would return to the region to continue his efforts.

"There is a road map to peace," Bush said, referring to CIA Director George Tenet's security plan, the first step toward implementing the Mitchell Committee peace plan. And Bush cited an initiative put forth by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah, in which Arab states would recognize Israel's right to exist in exchange for its return to pre-1967 borders.

While not formally endorsing the Saudi plan, Bush said it has "created an opening for discussing this broader peace and for normalization of relations between Arab states and the Israelis. The United States is committed toward exploring this opening."

Bush called upon Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat "to make the maximum effort to end terrorism against Israel, which undermines the prospects for peace."

"Chairman Arafat must do everything he can to reduce the violence, to stop the spread of violence. We don't believe he's doing enough," he said. But Bush added that he was counting "on all parties to do everything they can to make these efforts a success. The violence must end."

Asked about the recent increase in Israeli attacks, Bush said Israel has a right to self-defense, but hinted he wants change from Sharon too.

"I fully understand a nation wanting to defend herself," he said. "I believe what we're saying, though, is there has got to be a vision for peace. There has got to be an attempt to achieve a lasting peace."

Zinni's efforts will be buttressed by a 10-day, 12-country trip to the region by Vice President Dick Cheney, who departs Washington on Sunday. Peace and stability in the Mideast will be an important topic of Cheney's trip, the vice president said.

Bush noted that there is no guarantee the effort will be successful.

"We believe there is a possibility we can have an impact, and so the combination of General Zinni's trip and the vice president's trip may have a positive impact," he said. "We'll see."

Secretary of State Colin Powell said Zinni's goal is to "start to restore confidence between the two sides" to end the killing and move toward a political settlement.

"I hope both sides will respond to General Zinni," Powell said.