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Photo: Reuters
Sharon and Rice (Archive photo)
Photo: Reuters

Bush, Rice prepare for possible Israel trip

President, secretary of state clear schedule for early next week due to Sharon's condition; Rice cancels planned Australia, Indonesia trip, tells Olmert America praying for ill prime minister

Preparing for possible Israel trip: The U.S. State Department has announced that President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have cleared their schedule for early next week in case they need to travel to Israel should Prime Minister Ariel Sharon die.

 

Earlier it was reported that Rice canceled a trip to Indonesia and Australia because of concerns over the condition of critically ill prime minister, said officials informed of the decision on Friday.

 

A U.S. official, who asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the trip plans, said Rice did not "Want to be a long way from Israel should he die." A second official also confirmed the decision.

 

Friday evening, Rice phoned Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and told him all Americans were praying for Sharon's wellbeing.

 

"We're thinking about you," Rice was quoted as saying.

 

Olmert thanked the secretary of state and briefed her on Sharon's condition following the third surgery. He said the situation was grave but a little more optimism prevails this evening.

 

The acting prime minister also asked Rice to express her gratitude to President Bush.

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Sharon was fighting for his life on Friday. Surgeons managed to stop new bleeding in his brain in an emergency operation and he remained in critical but stable condition, a doctor said.

 

Middle East key priority

 

Rice has been to the Middle East four times since becoming secretary of state and has made pushing the peace process forward a foreign policy priority.

 

A Western diplomat in Washington, who did not know the trip had been canceled, said such a decision had been expected because of the uncertainty of Sharon's condition and his illness's impact on the region.

 

"The Middle East is the key priority for this year so, if you are Rice, you don't want to find yourself on the other side of the world when you really need to be hands-on regarding Sharon," the diplomat said.

 

State Department officials refused to confirm or deny the trip had been canceled but said an announcement would be made later on Friday. A scheduled briefing by State Department officials on the trip was canceled abruptly on Friday without explanation.

 

Rice had been scheduled to leave for Indonesia on Saturday, where she was set to meet Indonesian officials and was then going on to Sydney, Australia, where she would have met foreign ministers from Japan and Australia.

 

She was also set to take part in a meeting between the United States and five Asia-Pacific countries that announced a pact last July to cut greenhouse gases that falls outside the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. 

 

Yitzhak Benhorin and Reuters contributed to the story

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.06.06, 19:07
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