Pre-trip huddle on Middle East

President Obama will huddle this afternoon with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Middle East envoy George Mitchell on the eve of Mitchell's first shuttle diplomacy mission.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said that Mitchell will meet with leaders in Cairo, Jerusalem, Ramallah, Amman, Riyadh, Paris, and London.

Mitchell, the former US senator from Maine who helped broker peace in Northern Island, has no illusions about the huge challenge to do the same between Israelis and Arabs.

UPDATE: Before the meeting, Obama told reporters that the peace process is important to the security of the United States and personally important to his presidency, as well as crucial to Israelis and Arabs, and Jews, Muslims, and Christians around the world.

He said Mitchell's role is to "engage vigorously and consistently" to "achieve genuine progress" on the ground, and said that Mitchell has his full authority.

"When he speaks, he will be speaking for us," Obama said.