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By Arshad Mohammed
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice pushed on Monday for core issues of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict to be addressed in a document
setting parameters for a Middle East conference.
Israel had hoped to keep the pre-conference paper as vague
as possible.
"Now we are talking about a joint document that will
seriously and substantively address core issues. We have come
quite a long way. We've got quite a long way to go," Rice said.
Both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert have said they hope the conference,
expected to be held next month, will be a launching point for
negotiations on Palestinian statehood.
But Olmert, who faces right-wing resistance in his cabinet,
has called for a broadbrush document and rejected Abbas's calls
for a timeframe for resolving thorny issues such as borders and
the future of Jerusalem and millions of Palestinian refugees.
"Everything should be clear in the conference and then we
can go to negotiations in a specified time in order to reach a
peace treaty," Abbas told reporters after meeting Rice, who
began a four-day visit to the region on Sunday.
"After (the conference), the negotiations will not be
open-ended. They should have a timeline so we can achieve as
much as we can achieve in the coming period," he said.
Rice, speaking at a joint news conference with Abbas in the
West Bank city of Ramallah, said Washington was holding off
issuing invitations to the gathering in Annapolis, Maryland,
while Israel and the Palestinians worked on the document.
"We've not issued invitations because we want the work of
this bilateral track to continue very aggressively," Rice said.
NEGOTIATING TEAMS
Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams planned to meet
later in the day to continue trying to draft the paper. Olmert
has appointed Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who has cautioned
against moving too quickly on core issues, as chief negotiator.
Israel and the Palestinians failed to reach a final
agreement on key aspects of their conflict in talks that
collapsed in 2001 amid a surge in violence.
Both sides have voiced concern of another outbreak of
fighting should the conference fail.
Rice and Abbas said the gathering, widely seen as a bid by
the Bush administration to repair its image in the Middle East
after the Iraq war, must be more than a "photo-op."
Washington is trying to lure key Arab state Saudi Arabia to
attend the conference, amid calls by Riyadh for the meeting to
deal with issues of substance.
Another goal is to win more support for Abbas, who has been
weakened by the takeover of the Gaza Strip in June by Hamas
Islamists opposed to his peace moves with Israel.
Rice said she would not give up trying to bridge the gaps
between Israel and the Palestinians "until I've given my last
ounce of energy and my last moment in office."
Statements from Israeli and Palestinian officials after
Rice began her latest visit suggested major differences
remained over the joint document.
Rice has cautioned against expecting any big breakthrough
on the paper during her current trip and officials said she was
likely to return to the area before the conference.
Abbas said he asked for Rice's help to dissuade Israel from
building a new road near the large Jewish settlement of Maaleh
Adumim in the West Bank or resuming an archaeological dig near
a Muslim holy site in Jerusalem.
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