U.S. Middle East peace envoy heads to region Monday

WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The U.S. special envoy for Middle East peace leaves on Monday night on a trip to Egypt, Israel, the West Bank, Jordan and Saudi Arabia to try to shore up the Gaza ceasefire to promote Israeli-Palestinian peace, the State Department said.

George Mitchell, a former U.S. senator and a mediator who helped to resolve the Northern Ireland conflict, was named by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton last week to lead U.S. efforts to end the six-decade Arab-Israeli conflict.

State Department spokesman Robert Wood said Mitchell's trip, which will run through Feb. 3, aimed to consolidate the ceasefire that ended Israel's 22-day offensive in the Gaza Strip and to "reinvigorate the peace process."

(Editing by Sandra Maler)