Haniya accuses Rice of bringing a 'perilous vision'

Gaza City: Palestinian Prime Minister Esmail Haniya of Hamas on Monday accused US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of bringing a 'perilous vision' to the region, shortly after she announced plans to join an Israeli-Palestinian summit in the coming weeks.

Rice, who is in the Middle East in hopes of restarting peace efforts, is trying to 'sedate' the Palestinians with promises of easing Israeli restrictions while really serving Israel's interests, said Haniya.

"She is bringing a perilous vision that everyone should be wary of," Haniya said.

"It seems obvious the Bush administration will not exert any pressures on Israel to offer any substantial concessions to the Palestinian people."

Rice is seeking to bolster the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in his standoff against Hamas.

Those efforts include more than $80 million (about Dh293 million) in assistance to Abbas' Presidential Guard.

Haniya called the aid to Abbas 'dangerous' and said it would only worsen recent infighting between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah movement.

Rice said yesterday she will bring together the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the coming weeks for a summit dedicated to exploring ideas for an eventual Palestinian state.

The announcement came after Rice met with President Hosni Mubarak in the southern Egyptian town of Luxor, following a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Rice's talks were aimed at breathing new life into stalled Mideast efforts.