Rice Vow Over Road to Peace

CONDOLEEZZA Rice has pledged to revive the Middle East road map to peace by creating a Palestinian state.

The US Secretary of State, after meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said: “I’ve heard loud and clear the call for deeper American engagement.

“You have my commitment to do precisely that.”

Dr Rice said she would focus in the coming months on accelerating the stalled road map to “show to the Palestinians how we might move toward a Palestinian state”.

Israel said Washington was exploring several options including a state with temporary borders.

Mr Abbas rejected the idea: “Palestinians fear temporary borders would become final leaving them with a truncated state.”

Dr Rice met Fatah leader Mr Abbas in Ramallah to bolster his power struggle with the ruling Hamas faction which calls for Israel’s destruction.

Washington is under pressure from European and Arab allies to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after the peace talks collapsed in 2000.

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