US President George W. Bush revealed in an interview published on Friday that it will be no longer realistic to set up a Palestinian state by 2005, and acknowledged that the times are tough for the United States and the Middle East.

Bush made the remarks in an interview with Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram on Thursday.

It "may be hard" to establish a Palestinian state by 2005 which was enshrined in the roadmap plan for the Middle East peace, "since 2005 is right around the corner", Bush said.

He added, "I readily concede the date has slipped some, primarily because violence sprung up. " "Nevertheless, I do think we ought to push hard as fast as possible to get a state in place," Bush said.

He noted that times are difficult for the United States in the Middle East because people there don't understand its intentions, which, in his word, were to build free and peaceful societies and protect US security.

The United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union, or the diplomatic quartet for the Middle East, held a meeting on Tuesday trying to revive the stalled roadmap plan.

The roadmap plan drafted by the Quartet calls for the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005, but much of the plan has yet to beimplemented due to the escalating violence between Palestinians and Israelis.

Meanwhile, Bush repeated his apology for the conduct of US forces in Iraq.

"I can't tell you how sorry I am to them and their families forthe humiliation," he said.

On Thursday, the president offered his first apology for the humiliation of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers, but rejected calls by Democratic lawmakers for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign.

Source: Xinhua