President George W Bush arrived in Kuwait Friday on the second leg of a nine-day Middle East tour which will also see him travel to Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Bush began his first regional tour with talks in Israel and the Palestinian areas.

The country’s ruler Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah met the US leader at Kuwait City Airport.

Bush was scheduled to hold talks Saturday with senior Kuwaiti officials as well as inspecting US troops and meeting with General David Petraeus, commander of multi-national forces in Iraq.

Bush was expected to discuss with Petraeus the further stabilization of Iraq in light of positive developments and a decrease in violence emanating from last year's troop surge.

Kuwaiti leaders are meanwhile expected to renew their call for the release of four Kuwaitis imprisoned at the US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Earlier, Kuwaiti's foreign minister, Sheikh Muhammad al-Sabah al- Salim al-Sabah, said the fate of the detainees is an issue that concerned all Kuwaitis.

"The country cannot accept the continued detention of Kuwaiti nationals without trial. All we want is justice. We will call for their release," the minister told parliament on Wednesday.

Twelve Kuwaitis were arrested by US troops during conflict in Afghanistan in 2001 and imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay. Eight have since been released.

Earlier today, the President ended his three-day visit to Israel and the West Bank. Both Israeli and Palestinian officials expressed satisfaction with the outcome of the visit, the goal of which Bush had defined as "nudging" Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Mahmoud Abbas past their ongoing, day-to-day disputes over settlements and security to focus on their ambitiously stated goal of reaching a peace deal this year.

During his visit, George Bush used exceptionally strong language when he called for an "end to the occupation that began in 1967" - when Israel captured the West Bank from Jordan and Gaza from Egypt - and said the establishment of a Palestinian state was "long overdue."

But he also expressed strong support for Israel's security. He said the future Palestinian state must be "viable" and "contiguous," but backed Israel's intention to keep its main settlement blocs in the West Bank when he added the peace agreement should "reflect current realities."

Any changes to the 1949 armistice line separating Israeli from the West Bank must be "mutually agreed," he added however.

Olmert and Abbas meanwhile announced their negotiators will finally begin tackling the sensitive "core issues" of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - Jerusalem, borders and refugees - next week.