Rice-Livni deal aims to stop arms smuggling

Washington: The US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, and the Israeli Foreign Minister, Tzipi Livni, signed a deal here on Friday aimed at halting arms smuggling into Gaza as part of efforts to clinch a ceasefire.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Rice said the deal "provides a series of steps that the US and Israel will take to stem the flow of weapons and explosives into Gaza."

Rice said the memorandum of understanding aims to ensure that "Gaza can never again be used as a launch" for such attacks.

"There must be an end of smuggling of weapons to Gaza," Livni said. "The MOU we sign today is ... a vital component for the cessation of hostilities." She termed it a "historic MoU."

Rice told reporters that "the American timeline is not important" when asked if a ceasefire could be achieved before President George W. Bush hands the White House over to his successor Barack Obama on Tuesday. What is more important is that a ceasefire should last, she said, adding that the memorandum of understanding is a key step on the path to a ceasefire.

"There's a lot of work ahead here, but I certainly hope that we can push this to conclusion or ceasefire very, very soon," Rice said.