This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/middle_east/6260167.stm

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 5 Version 6
Rice commits to Mid-East roadmap Rice commits to Mid-East roadmap
(about 3 hours later)
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has held "very fruitful" talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in her bid to revive the roadmap to peace. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said the US is deeply committed to reviving the Middle East roadmap.
Speaking in Ramallah, Ms Rice said the US was deeply committed to the roadmap, and to creating a Palestinian state. "I have heard loud and clear the call for deeper American engagement," she said after talks in Ramallah with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Arab governments are thought to want a greater US engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in return for support over Iraq. Ms Rice, who later met Jordan's King Abdullah, offered no new suggestions.
But ruling Palestinian party Hamas accused Ms Rice of taking sides. Arab governments are thought to want greater United States engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in return for their support over Iraq.
Ms Rice is to hold talks with the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, on Monday.
The establishment of a Palestinian state should be pursued on its own merits, not because of anything else - not because of Iran, not because of Iraq, not because of anything Condoleezza Rice US secretary of stateThe establishment of a Palestinian state should be pursued on its own merits, not because of anything else - not because of Iran, not because of Iraq, not because of anything Condoleezza Rice US secretary of state
A Hamas spokesman, Fawzi Barhum, said her visit was serving only to "support one side [of] the Palestinian people against other". She is also due to visit Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in an attempt to drum up support for President George W Bush's new strategy in Iraq.
Hamas and Mr Abbas's Fatah organisation have been at loggerheads since Hamas won last year's election and lost Western funding for the Palestinian territories over its refusal to recognise Israel. Ms Rice has said Arab leaders have every incentive to help as a stable Iraq is also in their interests.
Ms Rice did not plan to meet any representative of the Hamas government during her visit. In advance of her visit, the secretary of state said she was not bringing new proposals but would be listening, talking and looking for creative solutions.
Earlier, she said that extremist forces were attempting to "make it impossible to have the kind of Middle East in which Israelis and Palestinians and other people of the Middle East can live in peace and in which democracy can make progress". During a news conference after her talks with Mr Abbas, she refuted suggestions that Washington was too distracted by concerns about Iraq and Iran to have any significant impact on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
'Not because of Iraq'
Ms Rice said on Sunday that she had heard loud and clear the call from Arab leaders for more US engagement in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
MID-EAST CONFLICT Palestinian unity call Mid-East awaits Rice answers Send us your comments
But she said her visit to Ramallah was not prompted by problems elsewhere in the Middle East:
"The establishment of a Palestinian state should be pursued on its own merits, not because of anything else - not because of Iran, not because of Iraq, not because of anything."The establishment of a Palestinian state should be pursued on its own merits, not because of anything else - not because of Iran, not because of Iraq, not because of anything.
"The Palestinian people have waited a long time for their own state... and if there is anything that I can do and that the president can do to finally realise that day, why wouldn't we want to do that?""The Palestinian people have waited a long time for their own state... and if there is anything that I can do and that the president can do to finally realise that day, why wouldn't we want to do that?"
Regional alarm
Mr Abbas said that his people would not accept temporary statehood, as mooted recently by Israel.Mr Abbas said that his people would not accept temporary statehood, as mooted recently by Israel.
"We told Secretary Rice that we reject any temporary solutions, including a transitional stage, because we don't see it as a realistic option," he said at the news conference. "We told Secretary Rice that we reject any temporary solutions, including a transitional stage, because we don't see it as a realistic option," he said.
He also repeated his promise to hold early legislative and presidential elections if talks with Hamas over forming a national unity government failed. MID-EAST CONFLICT href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/6259061.stm" class="">Mid-East awaits Rice answers href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=5229&edition=2&ttl=20070113162828" class="">Send us your comments
Iraq strategy He also repeated his promise to hold early legislative and presidential elections if talks with the ruling Palestinian party Hamas over forming a national unity government failed.
Ms Rice is now in Amman for talks with Jordan's King Abdullah. Hamas, for its part, accused Ms Rice of taking sides.
She will then meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem on Monday. A Hamas spokesman, Fawzi Barhum, said her visit was serving only to "support one side [of] the Palestinian people against other".
Ms Rice's trip will also take her to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in an attempt to drum up support for President George W Bush's new strategy in Iraq. Hamas and Mr Abbas's Fatah organisation have been at loggerheads since Hamas won last year's election and lost Western funding for the Palestinian territories over its refusal to recognise Israel.
Ms Rice has said Arab leaders have every incentive to help as a stable Iraq is also in their interests. The dispute has alarmed some of the region's leaders, including Jordan's King Abdullah who has warned that three civil wars are possible in the Middle East: in Iraq, the Palestinian territories and Lebanon.
Both President Bush and Ms Rice said earlier they intended to step up measures against those threatening to destabilise Iraq. In Amman, King Abdullah told Ms Rice of the importance for the region of progress on the roadmap, warning that without tangible steps in the near future the cycle of violence would widen.
Mr Bush announced an increase in US troop numbers in an effort to defeat extremists and insurgents in Iraq. He also said that Iraq's Sunni Arabs must be engaged in the country's political process.
Ms Rice has warned that the US would oppose any Iranian or Syrian interference in Iraq, and said the US would not let either country continue activities that endangered American soldiers in Iraq. The king "stressed that any political process that does not do so was likely to fail and to invite more violence", a court statement said.