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Rice holds key Middle East summit Rice holds key Middle East summit
(about 1 hour later)
US-brokered talks between the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians have begun in Jerusalem. US-brokered talks between the leaders of Israel and the Palestinians have begun amid tight security in Jerusalem.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she hopes to explore prospects for peace with Israeli PM Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. It is US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's first joint talks with Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas.
But the summit is likely to be overshadowed by the formation of a new Palestinian unity government. Ms Rice has been lowering expectations of progress in the peace process.
Palestinian Authority President Abbas has recently agreed a power sharing deal with the ruling Hamas movement which is sworn to Israel's destruction.
Mr Olmert has said Israel and the US will boycott any Palestinian government which does not recognise Israel.Mr Olmert has said Israel and the US will boycott any Palestinian government which does not recognise Israel.
Ms Rice said the US would reserve judgement until the proposed national unity government had been formed.Ms Rice said the US would reserve judgement until the proposed national unity government had been formed.
Hamas, which would be the largest group in the new government, has refused to recognise Israel's right to exist - a key demand of Western countries boycotting the Palestinian Authority (PA). The peace process has to be initiated by the countries in the mid east themselves, the US cannot do it millan, Brunswick, ME class="" href="http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/thread.jspa?threadID=5549&edition=1&ttl=20070218084944">Your say: Can Rice help? The deal earlier this month between Hamas and Mr Abbas's Fatah movement ended weeks of internal fighting that has cost more than 90 lives.
Rival factions Hamas and Fatah came to a power-sharing agreement earlier this month, bringing to an end weeks of internal fighting. Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas now has five weeks to get a new cabinet accepted by the Hamas-dominated parliament.
It is the first time for nearly four years that leaders from the two sides will sit down together with a senior American official. The BBC's Bethany Bell in Jerusalem says the summit was originally aimed at reviving possible peace negotiations but it has been overshadowed by concerns about the future Palestinian unity government.
Boycott threat
The BBC's Bethany Bell in Jerusalem says that there was little optimism ahead of the summit, the first time Israeli and Palestinian leaders will have sat down together with a senior US official since June 2003.
The peace process has to be initiated by the countries in the mid east themselves, the US cannot do it millan, Brunswick, ME Your say: Can Rice help?
Condoleezza Rice says she wants to explore the prospects for peace but has admitted it is a complicated time, our correspondent says.
Ms Rice spent more than two hours in talks with Mr Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Sunday. She then held talks in Jerusalem with Mr Olmert.Ms Rice spent more than two hours in talks with Mr Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah on Sunday. She then held talks in Jerusalem with Mr Olmert.
The US and Israel have stressed that any future Palestinian administration must recognise Israel, renounce violence and commit to previous agreements between the PA and Israel.The US and Israel have stressed that any future Palestinian administration must recognise Israel, renounce violence and commit to previous agreements between the PA and Israel.
Speaking on the eve of the summit, Mr Olmert said he and US President George W Bush had agreed to boycott the unity government if this was not the case. The fact that no news conference has been scheduled after the three-way summit - just a statement by Dr Rice - suggests expectations are low, correspondents say.
Mr Olmert said a Palestinian government that failed to accept the conditions laid down by the quartet of the US, EU, Russia and UN "cannot receive recognition and there will not be co-operation with it".
Prospects poor
The EU, US and Russia have maintained an economic boycott of the Palestinian government since Hamas won legislative elections in January last year.
Mr Abbas (right) has asked Mr Haniya to form a unity government
Meanwhile, factional fighting between Fatah and Hamas has claimed more than 90 Palestinian lives since December.
Former Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas now has five weeks to get a new cabinet accepted by the Hamas-dominated parliament.
But if Hamas maintains its position regarding Israel, there is concern that any talks brokered by Washington will be futile, correspondents say.
The fact that no news conference has been scheduled after the three-way summit suggests expectations are low, they suggest.