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U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
and Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni (unseen) give a joint press
conference in Jerusalem January 13, 2007. (Xinhua/AFP Photo)
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JERUSALEM,
Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Saturday landed in
Israel's Ben-Gurion International Airport to kick off her Middle East and Europe
tour, local daily Jerusalem Post reported.
The report said that Rice is expected to meet with a
number of senior Israeli officials including Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi
Livni and Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz.
Meanwhile, pan-Arabic television channel al-Jazeera
reported that Rice would visit the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday to meet
with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
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U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
(L) gestures beside Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni during their
joint news conference in Jerusalem January 13, 2007. (Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)
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But Rice stressed that she would not meet any
Hamas-led government's officials, al-Jazeera said.
Rice was supposed to exchanged views with the Israeli
and Palestinian officials to bridge the gap between the two sides in a bid to
revive the stalled Mideast peace process.
It was earlier reported that Rice would come with a
peace plan or proposal to establish a Palestinian statehood with temporary
borders. But Rice denied the reports on her way to the region, saying that she
did not come with any specific peace plans.
Palestinians are skeptical of the establishment of a
Palestinian state with temporary borders, fearing that the temporary borders
would become the permanent one.
Rice left the United States on Friday to start her
whirlwind tour in the Middle East and Europe, which would also take her to
Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Germany and Britain.
Related:
U.S. Secretary of State Rice meets Abbas in Ramallah
RAMALLAH, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is on a Middle East regional tour, met on Sunday morning with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank City of Ramallah.
Senior Palestinian officials said that Rice arrived in Ramallahon Sunday morning and immediately held a meeting with Abbas at al-Muqata'a building, the headquarters of the Palestinian National Authority.
Rice, Livni vow to seek two-state
solution to Israeli-Palestinian conflict
JERUSALEM, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Visiting U.S. Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni vowed Saturday
to continue their efforts in realizing two-state solution to the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Rice and Livni made the remarks in a joint press
conference held in Jerusalem on Saturday evening before their meeting in
private, local newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported.
Egypt sees Rice's visit as U.S. fresh
effort to break Mideast stalemate
CAIRO, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- A senior Egyptian official
Saturday said that U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to the
Middle East is a new effort by the United States to break stalemate in the
region's peace process.
Egyptian Presidential Spokesman Suleiman Awad said in a
statement that Rice's visit aims to exchange the viewpoints with the leaders in
this region on how to revive the stalled Mideast peace
process.
Erekat rules out Abbas-Olmert talks
during Rice's Mideast tour
RAMALLAH, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chief Palestinian negotiator
Sa'eb Erekat on Friday ruled out the possibility of holding talks between
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in
the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
In press statements, Erekat said that during Rice's
imminent tour of the Middle East region, her agenda would not include talks on
setting up a Palestinian state.
