Rice to attend Israeli-Palestinian summit

updated 7:56 p.m. ET Jan. 15, 2007

LUXOR, Egypt - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday she will bring together the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the coming weeks for a summit dedicated to exploring ideas for an eventual Palestinian state.

The announcement came after Rice met with President Hosni Mubarak in this southern Egyptian town following a three-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories. Rice’s talks were aimed at breathing new life into stalled Mideast efforts and bolstering the moderate Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, in his standoff with the Islamic militant group Hamas.

Rice said her talks during the visits dealt with laying the groundwork for “a political horizon that will lead to a Palestinian state.”

“I will soon meet with (Israeli Prime Minister Ehud) Olmert and President Abbas to have discussions on the broad issues of that horizon, so we can work on the road map and try to accelerate the road map to move to a Palestinian state,” she told reporters in Luxor.

She said the summit with Olmert and Abbas would take place “relatively soon” but did not set a date.

In Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told lawmakers of his Kadima party that he and the secretary of state had agreed on “a three-way meeting with Abbas” — also known as Abu Mazen — to be organized “in a short time.”

“It was agreed upon by both of us that the road map will continue to form the basis of the process,” Olmert said, referring to the stalled peace plan backed by the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. The plan calls for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

“My meeting with Abu Mazen caused a momentum and this momentum has to continue,” Olmert said, referring to his talks with President Mahmoud Abbas on Dec. 23. “This meeting is not a replacement, and will not be a replacement, for the bilateral negotiations between us and the Palestinians,” Olmert added.

Saeb Erekat, an aide to Abbas, could not confirm whether Abbas would attend, but said “in principle” the Palestinians are prepared to take part.

Dec. 23 meeting
Olmert and Abbas held their first official meeting on Dec. 23. The Israeli leader promised a series of goodwill gestures to Abbas, including the transfer of $100 million in frozen tax money and the easing of West Bank travel restrictions. But the Palestinians have complained about Israel not following through on its pledges.

On a related front Rice is asking Arab allies to help support the fragile government in Iraq, on whose success much of President Bush’s new plan to turn the war around will depend.

Rice was meeting diplomats and leaders in Egypt and Saudi Arabia on Monday, a day after a similar session in Jordan.

Moderate Arab governments plan to tell Rice they will help Washington stabilize Iraq if the U.S. takes more active steps to revive a broad peace initiative between Israel and its neighbors, Arab officials and media said Sunday.

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