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US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
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| By israelinsider staff March 26, 2007 |
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met in Jerusalem Sunday for three hours. No details of the meeting were released but the leaders confirmed that they are scheduled to meet again on Monday.
The focus of the meeting was the Palestinian issue, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice revealing a new approach to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, saying she would pursue "parallel" talks with the two parties on a common agenda in order to "move forward on forming a Palestinian state," Ynetnews reported.
Rice's plan is a departure from Israel's policy of not conducting talks with Abbas now that he has formed a unity government with Hamas.
"Now we are in a situation in which I think a bilateral approach, in which I talk in parallel to the parties ... is the best way," Rice said at a news conference with Abbas, Ynetnews reported.
Rice's meeting with Abbas was the first since the terrorist group Hamas and Abbas' Fatah Party formed a new unity government last week.
The US is working towards an Israeli-Arab summit, which would be mediated by the Quartet, that would be scheduled for the end of May. Rice's current tour in the Middle East will establish the groundwork for the negotiations.
According to Palestinian officials, the United States did not agree to recognize the Palestinian government but Rice said the Bush administration would assess the actions of the new coalition government.
The US has sent mixed messages by demanding that Palestinian government comply with the Quartet's stipulations and at the same time not denouncing the government outright.
On Monday Secretary of State Rice is scheduled to meet Jordanian King Abdullah in Aman, then meet with Abbas again in Ramallah. Later Monday Rice will meet with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni before her second meeting with Olmert. |
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