JERUSALEM (AP) — With hundreds of hotel rooms booked and municipal crews erasing graffiti, repainting road markings and unfolding red, white and blue flags, Jerusalem is getting ready for its highest-profile visitor in years: U.S. President George W. Bush.
Jerusalemites are accustomed to waiting in traffic jams as convoys of black sedans shuttle visiting dignitaries around the city, the seat of Israel's government. But Bush, who arrives for three days beginning Wednesday, constitutes a VIP of a different order. He is the first American president to come since Bill Clinton a decade ago.

Israel is pulling out all the stops to impress a president who is perhaps its staunchest foreign ally.

Jerusalem is spending nearly $400,000 to spruce itself up for the visit, said Jacob Avishar, the city official in charge of coordinating preparations. Garbage teams are engaged in a furious race to clean its often dusty streets and walls tagged with spray paint, he said.

During the visit, the Old City's five-century-old ramparts will be illuminated with floodlights until 2 a.m. instead of midnight, Avishar said. That way Bush will have more time to enjoy the view from his window at the nearby King David hotel.