Region | Palestinian Territories
Rice presses Israel on roadblocks
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday pressed Israel to ease travel restrictions on Palestinians and called Jewish colonies in the occupied West Bank "particularly problematic".
- Reuters
- Published: 00:11 May 6, 2008
Ramallah, West Bank: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday pressed Israel to ease travel restrictions on Palestinians and called Jewish colonies in the occupied West Bank "particularly problematic".
But she said Washington believed an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal was still possible before US President George W. Bush leaves office in January, praising the "seriousness and depth" of negotiations.
"We continue to believe it is an achievable goal to have an agreement between the Palestinians and the Israelis by the end of the year and by the end of President Bush's term," Rice said after meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.
Negotiations on issues core to the Middle East conflict were launched at a US-hosted international conference in Annapolis, Maryland in November. Abbas, at a news conference with Rice, voiced his commitment to peace efforts.
But Israeli-Palestinian talks have been clouded by violence, primarily along the border of the Gaza Strip, which is now controlled by Abbas's Hamas opponents, and by Israel's expansion of Jewish colonies in the West Bank, which Palestinians fear will deny them a viable state.
At the news conference, Rice said the United States regarded colonies as "particularly problematic to the atmosphere of trust that is needed".
'No hidden agenda'
A 2003 peace roadmap requires Israel halt construction in the colonies. Israel says it will keep major colony blocs under any peace deal - a plan tacitly endorsed by Bush in 2004 - and recently approved new housing projects in the enclaves.
"I can assure you that Israel has no hidden agenda," Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni told reporters after later talks with Rice, in response to a question about the colonies.
Rice launched her latest two-day visit to the region on Saturday by saying she would assess Israel's steps on the ground to see if they had improved the daily lives of the Palestinians. These include the promised removal of West Bank roadblocks.
Rice said she had raised the question, with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Ehud Barak, of whether those roadblocks that are to be scrapped would have a significant effect on easing movement by Palestinians.
"We are trying to look not just at quantity, but also at quality of improvements," said Rice, who also stressed that the Palestinians needed to take further action to meet the road map demand that anti-Israel groups be reined in.
After Rice's last trip in late March, Israel said it planned to remove 61 barriers in the West Bank. But a UN survey subsequently found that only 44 obstacles had been scrapped - and that most of these were of little or no significance.
Before her talks with Abbas, Rice met Barak in occupied Jerusalem. He exerts great influence over Israel's network of checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank.
Syria-israeli peace
RIce links it to lebanon
The United States would support a Turkish-brokered Syrian-Israeli peace drive but wants to see Damascus change its policy on Lebanon, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said in remarks published yesterday.
"We do not wish to stand in the way of any attempt to achieve peace between Israel and its neighbours including Syria," Rice told Asharq Al Awsat newspaper. "If the two sides wished to exert an effort for peace the United States would give its blessing and back these efforts. The problem is that Syria is yet to show a desire for Middle East peace especially vis-a-vis Lebanon," she added. Meanwhile, Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, from whose Maronite community Lebanese presidents are drawn, left yesterday for the United States, for talks due to focus on Lebanon's protracted presidential vacuum.
More from Palestinian Territories
More from Region
News Editor's choice
-
6,000 cups and counting: Addicted to that tea
This cafeteria in Al Mamzar attracts thousands of customers daily, including the rich and not so rich
-
Swimming pool horror: Twins hospitalised
Twins rushed to hospital after collapsing from chlorine inhalation at swimming pool in their villa
-
Play your cards right with credit card interest
UAE Central Bank plans to cap interest rates, but are you paying thirty-five per cent now?
