Rice downplays Middle East visit
Condoleezza Rice downplays significance of her latest Middle East trip as she arrives in Israel
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Sunday, 14, Oct 2007 08:15
Condoleezza Rice has played down the significance of her latest trip to the Middle East ahead of key trilateral talks next month.
She told reporters en route to Jerusalem from Russia that it was unlikely a joint document would be agreed upon before the top-level meeting between Washington and Israeli and Palestinian leaders in November.
When asked whether a breakthrough would be achieved during her visit, her seventh to the region in 2007 so far, she replied: "I would just warn in advance not to expect that, because this is really a work in progress."
Details of the long-anticipated conference designed at kick-starting the Middle East roadmap have not yet been confirmed, but Palestinian ministers have previously said a document outlining its key aims is essential for negotiations to begin.
Ms Rice is due to meet Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian politicians as tentative steps are taken towards statehood for the Palestinian people.
"The point that I will be making is that we have to be very careful as we are trying to move toward the establishment of a Palestinian state about actions and statements that erode confidence in the parties' commitment to a two-state solution," she told journalists.
But while the secretary of state claimed that only "narrow differences" exist between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, she criticised Israel's confiscation of land between east Jerusalem and the West Bank settlement of Ma'ale Adumim.
The Jewish state says it has confiscated the land to build a road connecting Palestinian areas separated by the partition.
But Ms Rice explained: "We have to be very careful as we are trying to move toward the establishment of a Palestinian state, of actions and statements that erode confidence in the parties' commitment to a two-state solution.
"Even if the intentions are good and even if the actual events on the ground are intended to produce a certain kind of outcome, this is a very delicate time.
"It's just a time to be extremely careful."