MIDDLE EAST: US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice met the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, yesterday in Ramallah in a bid to bolster the Palestinian leader and to explore renewing long-paralysed Middle East peace talks.
However, with the eruption in recent days of internecine Palestinian violence and with Israel focused on Iran's nuclear ambitions, there was little hope that Dr Rice's visit would spur any diplomatic progress.
The secretary of state, who was meeting Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert last night in Jerusalem, was likely to hear less about prospects for renewing talks with the Palestinians and more about Israel's fears that Iran is developing nuclear weapons.
"The prime minister yesterday [ Tuesday] said this is the first time he honestly feels . . . this is a threat to Israel's existence," said his spokeswoman Miri Eisen.
Although both Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas have in recent weeks expressed a willingness to meet, a date has yet to be set. Dr Rice did not sound overly optimistic yesterday when asked about the prospects of a meeting.
"It is my hope that it will not be very long before there can be a meeting between the president and prime minister Olmert," she said, adding that "they will choose the time". After her meeting with Mr Abbas, she told reporters at a joint press conference that the US would "redouble our efforts to improve the conditions for the Palestinian people".
She did not, however, outline any specific steps.
Dr Rice, who is on a tour of the region in a bid to boost moderate Arab regimes in the region, called yesterday on Hamas, which does not recognise Israel and ousted the more moderate Fatah party in elections earlier this year, to co-operate with Mr Abbas. She added that the Hamas-led government could not govern.
Since the radical Islamic movement formed a government six months ago, the Palestinian Authority has been subject to crippling economic sanctions imposed by Israel and western countries.
Mr Abbas said yesterday that attempts to reach agreement with Hamas on the formation of a national unity government, which Palestinians have hoped might lead to the lifting of sanctions, were "over now, and we have to start from square one".
At his press conference yesterday with Dr Rice, the Palestinian president hinted he might dissolve parliament if Hamas does not accept terms for a unity government that include tacit recognition of Israel's existence and recognition of all previous agreements between the Palestinians and Israel.
"If this doesn't happen in the near future, all options are open," Mr Abbas said, "but the only option I reject is civil war."
In the worst internal violence in years, at least 10 Palestinians have been killed and dozens injured in recent fighting between Hamas and Fatah militants in Gaza and the West Bank.
Hamas leaders were harshly critical yesterday of Dr Rice, with the prime minister, Ismail Haniyeh, accusing her of trying to "rearrange" the Middle East to serve American and Israeli interests.
The secretary of state arrived in Israel after meeting foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan and six Gulf states on Tuesday in Cairo.