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Rice on last leg of Mid-East tour US says Mid-East peace on track
(about 4 hours later)
The US secretary of state is holding a final day of talks with Israelis and Palestinians at the end of an intensive round of Middle East diplomacy. The US secretary of state has said the Middle East peace process is "moving in the right direction" following talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
Condoleezza Rice has met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem and will hold more talks in Jordan with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Condoleezza Rice said she believed a final status agreement was possible before President George W Bush leaves office in January 2009.
Israel and the Palestinian Authority on Sunday agreed a series of steps to ease Palestinians' lives in the West Bank. Ms Rice made the comments after meeting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
Israel pledged to remove about 50 roadblocks in the territory. Earlier, she met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem.
In return, Palestinians promised to step up their efforts to "prevent terror". She also held three-way talks with top Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
What we have to do is to have meaningful progress toward a better life for the Palestinian people, for economic viability for Palestinians Condoleezza Rice According to Israeli campaign group Peace Now, there has been no reduction in the building of Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since the peace talks were relaunched at Annapolis in November.
Ms Rice also held a three-way talks with top Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. 'Impressive work'
The secretary of state is trying to re-energise the peace process, which was re-launched following a US-sponsored conference in Annapolis in November. It is her second visit to the region in the less than a month. After meeting Mr Abbas at the end of her three-day mission, Ms Rice told reporters she was impressed by the work being done.
After four months of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations - which have produced few visible results - Ms Rice is claiming some progress, the BBC's Jon Brain in Jerusalem says. God willing, we will reach a comprehensive peace in 2008 - we, the Israelis and the Americans and all the concerned parties in the region, are working to achieve this Mahmoud AbbasPalestinian Authority President
Although some 50 road blocks will be removed by Israel, more than 500 others will remain in place, our correspondent says. Mr Abbas said he hoped a comprehensive peace could be achieved this year.
"What we have to do is to have meaningful progress toward a better life for the Palestinian people, for economic viability for Palestinians even as we move for the establishment of a state," Ms Rice said. "We, the Israelis and the Americans and all the concerned parties in the region, are working to achieve this," he added.
'No settlement freeze' He said he was next due to meet Israel's prime minister on 7 April. Mr Abbas broke off negotiations last month during an Israeli offensive that killed more than 120 Palestinians in Gaza.
Our correspondent adds that the peace talks continue to be overshadowed by the split among the Palestinians between Mr Abbas' Fatah party and the militant Islamist group Hamas, which advocates the destruction of Israel. The confidence expressed by the two leaders came a day after Israel and Mr Abbas's Palestinian Authority agreed to a series of "concrete steps" to ease Palestinians' lives in the West Bank.
Meanwhile, the Israeli campaign group, Peace Now, says Israel has not stopped a single construction project in Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank since peace talks were re-launched in November. Israel said it would remove about 50 roadblocks in the West Bank while the PA agreed to step up its efforts to "prevent terror".
It says there is almost nothing left of a promise to freeze construction.
The Israeli government says it never promised a total settlement freeze.