WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (Xinhuanet) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will send two senior envoys to the Middle East on Tuesday to look into arrangements for a Palestinian election scheduled for Jan. 25, the State Department said Monday.

    Assistant Secretary of State David Welch and Elliott Abrams of President George W. Bush's national security council staff will talk to Israeli and Palestinian officials also about security issues and travel and other difficulties the Palestinians have in their daily lives, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

    Welch and Abrams, originally planned to visit the Middle East last week, postponed their trip after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a massive stroke.

    On the scheduled Palestinian elections, McCormack said that the issue of voting in Jerusalem, where the Palestinians hope to establish a capital, can be resolved as it has been in the past with Palestinians casting absentee ballots in post offices.

    Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas reportedly said Monday that elections would take place as planned on January 25 after he received U.S. assurances that Israel would allow voting to take place in east Jerusalem.

    Earlier this month Abbas raised the possibility that the parliamentary election could be delayed if Israel barred voting in Arab East Jerusalem. Enditem