Rice says time for a Palestinian state
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) — US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pushed Israelis and Palestinians Monday to reach concrete understandings ahead of a US peace summit, saying the time had come for a Palestinian state.
Confirming that an international meeting would take place in Annapolis, Maryland, Rice said the creation of a Palestinian state was essential and that efforts to that end were US President George W. Bush's highest priority.
"Frankly it is time for the establishment of a Palestinian state," Rice told a news conference after meeting Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank on her seventh visit to the region this year.
"The US sees the establishment of a Palestinian state, a two-state solution, as absolutely essential to the future of not just the Palestinians and Israelis, but also the Middle East and indeed to American interests.
"We have got quite a long time to go but we are not going to tire until I have given my last ounce of energy and my last moment in office.
"The president has decided to make this one of the highest priorities of his administration and of his time in office, means he is absolutely serious about moving this issue forward and moving it as rapidly as possible to conclusion."
The international community is hoping that the US-hosted conference, which is expected to be held next month, will advance the Middle East peace process after almost seven years of deadlock.
"This is going to be a serious and substantive conference that will advance the cause of the establishment of a Palestinian state. We frankly have better things to do than invite people to Annapolis for a photo op," she said.
But Israel and the Palestinians disagree strongly on the content of a joint document, which negotiating teams are charged with drawing up to serve as a basis for those talks.
The Palestinians want a detailed agreement and timeframe for implementing solutions to the thorniest issues in the conflict, while the Israelis want a more vague document with core issues left until after the conference.
"They are not going to try to solve everything in this November document, but it does need to be a serious and substantive and concrete document that demonstrates that there is a way forward," Rice insisted.
Briefing journalists later, however, she clarified that she did not necessarily mean -- as the Palestinians want -- that the document should be detailed.
"I said there needs to be a serious and substantive document that will address the core issues. A document does not have to be detailed in order to be serious, it doesn't have to be detailed in order to be substantive," he said.
Abbas and Olmert have met four times in two months to prepare for next month's meeting.
Their teams of negotiators held two hours of talks in Jerusalem later on Monday to discuss key issues of the document and are to hold two further meetings later this week, the Palestinians said.
"We had a serious meeting with a view to draw up a document agreed by the two sides," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told AFP.
After meeting Rice for four hours in Ramallah, Abbas listed the points that he wanted the joint document to refer to -- borders, the status of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees, Jewish settlements and water.
"They (negotiations) should not be open indefinitely. We need a timetable to be able to measure our achievements," the Palestinian leader said.
But Olmert and Rice oppose a timetable for solving the thorniest problems of the decades-long conflict -- borders, refugees and the status of Jerusalem.
"I am not certain that a timetable that says we have to complete X by Y time is where we want to go," Rice told reporters.
Also on Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hinted for the first time in office that he would be willing to give up annexed Arab neighbourhoods in occupied east Jerusalem, which the Palestinians dream of making their capital.
"Was it necessary to annex the Shufat refugee camp, al-Sawahra, Walajeh and other villages and state that this is also Jerusalem? I must admit, one can ask some legitimate questions on the issue," he said.
Israel annexed east Jerusalem after the 1967 Middle East war and considers the city to be its "reunified and eternal capital" -- a claim not recognised by the international community.
