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Rice - Optimistic
Photo: Reuters
Livni - Cutting back on settlement expansion
Photo: AFP

Rice, Livni report progress in talks with PA

Visiting US Secretary of State Rice meets with PM Olmert, Foreign Affairs Minister Livni as part of brief diplomatic tour in Mideast

Though her tenure is at an end, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice remains optimistic that she will yet see an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement signed before she is replaced.

 

Rice, who is on a notably brief sojourn to the Middle East, began her Tuesday scheduled in Jerusalem. After an hour-long breakfast meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Rice then met with Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni. The two released a joint statement insisting that progress has been achieved in the negotiations with the Palestinian Authority.

 

In a joint press conference held by Livni and Rice, the former addressed Israeli construction in the West Bank: "I don't believe that it is Israel's policy to increase activity in the settlements, rather it is to decrease activity."

 

Livni rejected the claims that the ongoing construction projects were impeding the negotiations. "You can't allow noise affect the diplomatic proceedings. That is what I said during the days of terror attacks, and that is what I am saying today.

 

"Leaders must be committed to a way and to a goal, these noises existed during the days of terror attacks from Gaza must not get in the way. We are involved in serious, continuous negotiations all the time. There are disparities, but we are not where we were a year ago."

 

The secretary also addressed the contentious issue. "I think it's no secret, and I have said it to my Israeli counterparts, that I don't think that settlement activity is helpful," Rice said.

 

"In fact, what we need now are steps that enhance confidence between the parties and anything that undermines confidence between the parties ought to be avoided," she said.

 

The Prime Minister's Office issued a statement following the prime minister's meeting with the secretary, saying that both Olmert and Rice "share the belief that an agreement can be reached between Israel and the Palestinians by the end of 2008."

 

Rice is scheduled to meet later in the day with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority's top negotiator, Ahmed Qureia. The secretary will also hold a three-way meeting with Livni and Qureia.

 


פרסום ראשון: 08.26.08, 10:34
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