Rice says she will go to Middle East soon

[stu]

By Sue Pleming

Thu Sep 21, 7:59 PM ET

 

 

 

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Determined to revive the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday she planned to travel to the Middle East soon.

 

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Speaking to reporters after a U.N. Security Council meeting to discuss the situation in the Middle East, Rice said she would seek out moderate Arab leaders and try to help both sides in the Arab-Israeli conflict resolve their differences.

 

Earlier this week, President Bush told the U.N. General Assembly he had instructed Rice to lead a new diplomatic push in the Middle East.

 

"I expect to go to the region fairly soon," said Rice, without giving details.

 

Rice said she would try to "accelerate progress" on the U.S.-led "road map" for Middle East peace and for implementation of an agreement she helped broker last November allowing for the free access of people and goods into Gaza.

 

She reiterated the U.S. call for the immediate release of Israeli soldiers held in both Gaza and Lebanon and said such a move would improve the "atmosphere."

 

"We really want to see the conditions created where we can have a celebration of the work on the road map and return to the access of movement agreement that was negotiated so that economic life can return to the Palestinian Territories," she said.

 

The road map lays out steps for a two-state solution in which Palestinians and the Israelis live side-by-side.

 

A senior State Department official, who asked not to be named, said he did not expect Rice to engage in high-speed shuttle diplomacy of some previous administrations and overall strategy was still being worked out.

 

The immediate plan was to boost support for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, whose Fatah Party lost in January elections to the militant group Hamas.

 

The Quartet of Middle East mediators issued a statement on Wednesday supporting efforts by Abbas to form a unity government that would include Hamas and other groups and said it hoped it would "reflect" principles laid down by the group.

 

The Quartet, which groups the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia, has demanded that Hamas recognize Israel, renounce violence and agree to previous accords signed by Palestinians and Israelis.

 

U.S. support for Abbas' efforts as well as agreement on extending a financial aid mechanism to ease the economic crisis created by an aid embargo since Hamas came to power, was seen as a softening of the hard-line U.S. position.

 

But the senior official said U.S. support for the Quartet's statement should be seen as a bid to show strong support for Abbas rather than a softening.

 

"It would be very odd for us to come out against his efforts. Why would we do that?" said the official.

 

Bush administration efforts in the Middle East have been met with suspicion by many in the region, particularly after the U.S. invasion of Iraq and attempts to create what Rice has called a "new Middle East" in line with the president's democracy and freedom agenda.

 

The official noted that when Bush addressed the U.N. this week he avoided using such language as "Islamo-fascism" and a "new Middle East," not wanting to further distance an already suspicious audience.