Rice heads to Israel for talks
With Bush administration determined to see peace agreement by end of its term, US secretary of state heads to Mideast to meet with Israeli, Palestinian officials next weekend
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories this weekend for talks on the peace process with senior officials, the State Department said Friday.
Rice "will travel to Israel and the Palestinian Territories on August 24," said spokesman Sean McCormack.
McCormack said Rice's talks would include senior Israeli and Palestinian officials and would cover "ongoing efforts to create positive and lasting peace in the region and progress towards the shared goal of a peace agreement in 2008 ." He provided no details of her schedule or meetings, and did not say how long Rice would remain in the region.
Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat has said that Rice will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, then hold three-way talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and senior Palestinian diplomat Ahmed Qureia.
The United States has said it hopes to conclude a framework peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians before President George W. Bush leaves office in January. But the talks have stumbled on disputes over Israeli settlement building and the future of Jerusalem.
On Thursday Livni said Palestinian violence could reignite if the international community piled on too much pressure on the sides to rush into an agreement by year's end.
A State Department spokesman, responding to Livni's comments on Friday, said the Americans would not push the parties beyond where they were willing to go.
"This is a difficult process, and we still believe that an agreement can be reached by the end of the year,"
the spokesman, Robert Wood, said. "But there's no attempt by the US government to push the parties beyond where they believe they can go at this point."
Rice last held meetings with Israel and Palestinian officials in Washington on July 30, the same day Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, hit by a corruption scandal, said he would step down after his party chooses a new leader in September.
The talks have made little visible progress since then, with both sides remaining deeply divided on core issues like the status of Jerusalem, the fate of Palestinian refugees, and final borders.
Reuters and AFP contributed to this report
