In his State of the Union address, Bush singled out Syria and Iran as threats to Middle East stability and vowed to "confront regimes that continue to harbor terrorists and pursue weapons of mass murder."

He also issued a rare rebuke to two of the United States' main allies in the region, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, challenging them to accelerate their democratic reforms.

Bush delivered his annual speech to Congress at a time when hopes were rising for a revival of the US-backed "road map" for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has claimed more than 4,700 lives since September 2000.

"The goal of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace is within reach, and America will help them achieve that goal," the president said.

Bush said his new secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, would discuss prospects for furthering the peace process and developing a Palestinian state when she visits the region early next week in the middle of a European tour.

"To promote this democracy, I will ask Congress for 350 million dollars to support Palestinian political, economic, and security reforms," Bush said. The administration late last year had already promised some 60 million dollars.

The White House, which had pulled back from the peace process as efforts to implement the road map faltered last year, has raised its profile since Mahmud Abbas was elected Palestinian president to replace the late Yasser Arafat.