Cairo (AP): Egypt's state-owned press opened fire on Saturday on U.S. President George W. Bush as he arrived for talks with regional leaders at the conclusion of a five-day Mideast tour.

The newspapers, whose management are all appointed by the government, criticized Bush's speech Thursday in front of the Israeli Knesset for being overly supportive of the Israelis and not mentioning the Palestinians' plight.

``The Torah-inspired speech of Bush raised question marks over the credibility of the U.S. role in the Middle East,'' wrote Mursi Atallah, the publisher of Al-Ahram, the flagship daily of the state-owned press. ``Bush aims to do nothing but appeasing Israel.''

Bush's tour, which included stops in Israel and Saudi Arabia, represents another effort to push Mideast peace talks forward as his time in office winds down.

In his speech marking the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding, Bush reiterated the U.S.'s close ties to its regional ally, and dismissed the notion that the Jewish state should have to negotiate with its armed adversaries.

A front page editorial in Al-Gomhouria, another Egyptian state-owned daily, described Bush as ``a failed president who delivers nothing but a lousy speech.''

Akhbar Al-Youm also on Saturday published a picture of Bush hugging Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and captioned it ``lovers.''

The paper also ran a front page cartoon showing an Egyptian peasant consoling President Hosni Mubarak for having to meet with ``this burdensome guy who will be leaving soon,'' in reference to Bush.

Egypt was the first Arab nation to make peace with Israel and has long been seen as a key mediator in the Mideast dispute that Bush has said he wants to solve by the time he leaves office next January.

Bush delivered a rosy forecast for the Middle East in 2068 during his speech. He limited his mention of Palestinians to just one sentence. ``The Palestinian people will have the homeland they have long dreamed of and deserved, a democratic state that is governed by law, and respects human rights, and rejects terror,'' he said.

Bush is seen in the Arab world as tilting too far toward Israel. On Friday, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal commented on Bush speech by saying its understandable that U.S.-Israel relations are special but ``it is, however, important also to affirm the legitimate and political rights of the Palestinian people.''