Rice to push peace process
2008-03-29 22:27
Ben Gurion Airport, Israel - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Israel late on Saturday in hopes of giving the peace process a push forward.
Rice was to dine with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert shortly after her arrival and will continue in a series of meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Sunday, before heading to Jordan for talks with King Abdullah.
Speaking to reporters aboard her plane, Rice said she would focus on three main issues in her two-day visit to the region - improving Palestinian movement and access in the West Bank, monitoring the peace negotiations and keeping neighbouring Arab nations involved.
"I will spend a good deal of time on issues concerning the West Bank, including ways to improve movement and access," she said, adding she would like to see "real concrete progress on the ground".
Palestinians charge that Israel is undermining Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in his power struggle with Hamas by failing to remove restrictions on movement. Israel contends the checkpoints, which are stifling the war-battered Palestinian economy, are necessary to keep out suicide bombers.
Rice, just three weeks removed from her last visit, will try to bridge some of the gaps.
"Obviously, there are security issues but we do have to find ways to improve movement," she said, aboard her flight. "There are obstacles that are not checkpoints and there are checkpoints that are obstacles. I think you need to look at both."
Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians were officially relaunched at a US-hosted peace conference in November, where Olmert and Abbas pledged to try to reach a peace accord this year.
Peace efforts have been compromised by an upsurge in Israeli fighting with Islamic Hamas militants who control the Gaza Strip and continued Israeli construction in areas Palestinians claim for a future state.
Rice usually meets with the two sides separately, but in a possible sign of the urgency assigned to the visit, she is to meet together with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak.
She'll also hold a joint session with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and the chief Palestinian negotiator, Ahmed Qureia.
"I am not coming to insert American ideas into this process," she said. "What is useful right now is for the parties to continue what I think is a pretty fruitful discussion between them."
- AP