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US says Mid-East peace on track US says Mid-East peace on track
(about 2 hours later)
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.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 said she believed a final status agreement was possible before President George W Bush leaves office in January 2009. Condoleezza Rice said she fully believed a final status agreement was possible before President George W Bush leaves office in January 2009.
Ms Rice made the comments after meeting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in the Jordanian capital, Amman. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said he hoped for a deal this year.
Earlier, she met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem. Campaigners have accused the Israeli government of failing to halt new Jewish settlements in the territories.
She also held three-way talks with top Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. Peace Now, an Israeli group, said construction had continued in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem since November's Annapolis meeting in the US, which relaunched the peace process.
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. It said there was now almost nothing left of a promise to freeze settlement construction but the Israeli government denies it has ever given such a promise.
'Impressive work''Impressive work'
After meeting Mr Abbas at the end of her three-day mission, Ms Rice told reporters she was impressed by the work being done. Ms Rice was speaking after meeting Mr Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
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 OBSTACLES TO PEACE class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/6666393.stm">History of negotiations class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/6668603.stm">Jerusalem class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/6666495.stm">Water class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/6689355.stm">Refugees class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/6669545.stm">Borders and settlements
Mr Abbas said he hoped a comprehensive peace could be achieved this year. Earlier, she met the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, in Jerusalem.
She also held three-way talks with the top Palestinian negotiator, Ahmed Qurei, and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
Ms Rice told reporters she was impressed by the work which had been done since the peace process was relaunched at Annapolis in November.
Mr Abbas said he was confident a comprehensive peace could be achieved this year.
"We, the Israelis and the Americans and all the concerned parties in the region, are working to achieve this," he added."We, the Israelis and the Americans and all the concerned parties in the region, are working to achieve this," he added.
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. He said he was next due to meet Israel's prime minister on 7 April.
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. Mr Abbas broke off negotiations last month during an Israeli military offensive that killed more than 120 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Israel said it would remove about 50 roadblocks in the West Bank while the PA agreed to step up its efforts to "prevent terror". Israel and Mr Abbas's Palestinian Authority earlier "agreed on concrete steps to implement the roadmap" and ease Palestinians' lives in the West Bank.
'No violation'
Peace Now warned the Israeli government it was repeating one of its "worst mistakes" by approving a surge of construction in the past five months, with 946 homes planned in the West Bank and at least 750 homes in East Jerusalem.
But Mr Olmert said that "all the reports of dramatic construction projects in the [Palestinian] Territories" were untrue.
"And it's not true that we're building in violation of commitments that were made," he told a meeting of his Kadima Party.
Mr Olmert said his government would continue to authorise construction work in the occupied areas it wanted to keep in any final peace agreement.
Later, the Jerusalem municipal authority announced plans to construct 600 new apartments in the contested East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Pisgat Zeev.
Ms Rice said the US opposed any settlement expansion.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, settling about 400,000 Jews in the area, including East Jerusalem. Settlements are considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.