Some of the leaders also indicated they would support deployment of a peacekeeping force to the region, but Israel immediately rejected the notion.

The Group of Eight summit statement, released Sunday night, blames “extremists” for pushing Israel to the brink of war, but does not mention Syria and Iran by name, reflecting differences between the leaders over where to publicly place most of the blame for the conflict.

In citing the two nations, Bush was offering his own interpretation of the communique.

Echoing what senior U.S. officials such as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have said on several occasions, Bush declared, “For the first time we've really begun to address with clarity the root causes of the conflict . . . and that is, terrorist activity – namely, Hezbollah that's housed and encouraged by Syria, financed by Iran.”

Bush, not realizing a live microphone was nearby, told British Prime Minister Tony Blair in a pre-luncheon conversation, “See, the irony is that what they need to do is get Syria to get Hezbollah to stop doing this (expletive) and it's over.”

He also told Blair of his urge to tell U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to telephone Syrian President Bashar Assad to “make something happen.”

Bush and other top administration officials have accused Syria of harboring key terrorist leaders and of manipulating Lebanese politics through Hezbollah, a Muslim guerrilla group.

Bush indicated that Rice might travel to the Middle East soon.

Asked later about Bush's reaction to being caught off guard on the microphone, White House spokesman Tony Snow said the president “sort of rolled his eyes and laughed.”

Despite Bush's apparent impatience with Annan, Snow said the president “is not only happy to work with him, but has been supportive from the very start of the U.N. mission to the region.”

The G-8 statement indicts Hezbollah and the militant group Hamas, while also calling on Israel to end military operations against Lebanese targets.

The decision to omit Syria and Iran came as a result of a compromise forced by Putin, whose country has long-standing ties to them.

Putin argued there is not enough convincing evidence to name Syria and Iran as key supporters of Hezbollah and Hamas.

Bush wrapped up his participation in the summit by attending a working session, a lunch and then a photo session with his seven colleagues and a group of other world leaders not part of the G-8.

The invited officials included Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who also met privately with Bush in the morning. Mexican President Vicente Fox also attended.

Along with its deliberations over the Middle East, the summit approved a statement saying North Korea's recent missile tests intensified the G-8's “deep concern” over that country's nuclear weapons program.

Urging North Korea to end testing and abandon its attempt to develop nuclear weapons materials, the statement supports a resolution adopted over the weekend by the U.N. Security Council demanding that North Korea suspend its ballistic missile program.

The measure also bans U.N. members from any commerce with North Korea that would advance the program and its parallel effort to develop nuclear weapons material.

Other G-8 members are Canada, Germany, France, Italy and Japan.