Rice taps ex-NATO leader as Mideast envoy

updated 6:31 p.m. ET Nov. 28, 2007

WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice tapped a former NATO commander on Wednesday to serve as a special envoy for Middle East security, moving quickly to maintain momentum coming out of this week's international conference that launched new Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

She said James Jones, a retired Marine Corps general, was "the person we need to take up this vital mission."

"I believe we need an experienced leader who can address the regional security challenges comprehensively and at the highest levels and who can provide the full support of our government to the partners as they work to meet their responsibilities," Rice said.

Earlier Wednesday — just 24 hours after securing an agreement to resume long-stalled Mideast peace talks — President Bush met again with Israeli and Palestinian leaders to ceremonially inaugurate the negotiations.

After meeting individually with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the three men appeared briefly together in the White House Rose Garden, where Bush called Tuesday's agreement "a hopeful beginning."

"One thing I have assured both gentlemen is that the United States will be actively engaged in the process," Bush said. "We will use our power to help you as you come up with the necessary decisions to lay out a Palestinian state that will live side-by-side in peace with Israel."

"No matter how important yesterday was, it's not nearly as important as tomorrow and the days beyond," he added. "I appreciate the commitment of these leaders, working hard to achieve peace. I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't believe that peace was possible, and they wouldn't be here either if they didn't think peace was possible."

Unlike their three-way handshake on Tuesday, the leaders did not shake hands in the Rose Garden.

"I appreciate your courage and leadership," Bush said. "It's an honor to call you friends. And it's an honor to have watched you yesterday as you laid out your respective visions for something we all want, which is peace in the holy land."

The three then went back into the White House to formally begin the talks.

Envoy to monitor interaction between forces
Jones, standing at Rice's side for the announcement in the State Department's historic Treaty Room, said he looked forward to returning to the region as a special envoy for Middle East security.

"I look forward to doing whatever I can to assist," Jones said.

State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said earlier that the job involves monitoring the development of Palestinian security services.

One focus would be how those forces interact with neighboring security services, including Israeli authorities. He said the special envoy would work closely with the U.S. security coordinator for the Palestinians, Lt. Gen. Keith Dayton, who has been working in the region for two years and will remain in his post.

Jones, who ended his 40-year career in the Marines last February, will remain in his current job as president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Energy. Last summer he headed a congressionally chartered panel that studied the readiness of Iraq's army and police.

U.S. officials pledged Tuesday at the international peace conference held in Annapolis, Md., to hold both sides to account if they do not carry out obligations.

The recently revived U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan quickly foundered after it was presented in 2003 because the Palestinians did not rein in militant groups and Israel did not freeze all construction in West Bank settlements, as it had pledged to do. Bringing Jones in to closely follow the process is designed to assure that the newly resumed peace talks don't languish because promises are broken.

White House expresses delight
After meeting their own low expectations for the Annapolis conference amid intense skepticism, Bush administration officials crowed with delight on Wednesday.

"What has been remarkable about this process is that they are now ready to go," Rice told ABC during a round of TV interviews Wednesday morning in which she praised unprecedented support for the peace process from Arab states.

"It's going to be hard, but you had support in that room that you had not had from Arab states in the past," Rice said on NBC.

After inaugurating the negotiations at the White House, the two sides have agreed to continue with a meeting in the region on Dec. 12, Rice said Tuesday.

Bush, along with Rice, had earlier salvaged a "joint understanding" between the Israelis and Palestinians, who had remained far apart on the details of the statement until the last minute.

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