Rice in Middle East to revive peace plan
Regional-Israel-USA, Politics, 10/3/2006

The Foreign Ministers of Egypt, US, Jordan and Gulf Cooperation Council, GCC member states meet in Cairo today, October 03, 2006 evening for discussing ways of re-launching Mideast Peace process and reviewing regional developments in the Middle East.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is due to arrive in Cairo at noon today on a one day visit during which she will meet President Mubarak, Minister Omar Suleiman and Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit.

Rice will meet the Foreign Ministers on an iftar banquet following which she will address a press conference with the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, the UAE and Abdul-Rahman Al-Atteyah, the GCC Secretary General.

Rice had arrived in Saudi Arabia yesterday on the first leg of a tour that would take her to Egypt, Israel, and Palestinian territories.

In statements to the reports escorting her on the plane to Saudi Arabia, Rice said that the United States hopes for a new formula for its moderate Arab allies including Egypt, Jordan, and GCC states to re-launch the Arab Israeli peace march.

Rice said that the immediate solution to the growing economic and political crisis in the Palestinian Territories is for the ruling Hamas party to join the consensus of the international community in support of a two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

She urged Hamas to respond to the overtures from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to form a unity government committed to the principles of a two-state solution as outlined in previous agreements signed by the Palestinian Authority.

Rice will travel to the Palestinian Territories later in the week to meet with Abbas and "talk with him about what more we can do to support him."

The secretary said a resolution of some short-term problems would be "enormously helpful" in stabilizing the situation. On the Palestinian side, she called for release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, kidnapped by Palestinian militants in June. On the Israeli side, she said, "I would hope that the Israelis can see their way forward to make some progress on movement and access for the territories because the economic situation in the Palestinian territories is, of course, made very much worse if there is not the ability to move through some of the crossings."

She said in the long term the best solution is a return to active engagement between the two parties, along with the international community.

Rice said "The countries that we're meeting with particularly in the GCC+2 is a group that you would expect to support the emerging moderate forces in Lebanon, in Iraq and in the Palestinian territories."

Rice said the GCC+2 provides an important new framework to discuss Middle East peace and regional stability. "I do think that the GCC+2 effort is new and it gives us an opportunity in a new configuration to work with the moderate states and the moderate voices in the region both to support these new moderate forces like (Fouad) Siniora's government in Lebanon, … the presidency of Mahmoud Abbas (of the Palestinian Authority) and the government of Iraq. And that configuration I think can be quite powerful in resisting extremist forces as well,” she said.

Rice praised Saudi Arabia’s efforts to draw Iraq’s Sunni Arabs into that country’s political process and the Saudi contribution of $1.5 billion to help Lebanon rebuild after Israel’s monthlong assault on Hezbollah. She said she would encourage Saudi’s King Abdallah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud to continue working for the stabilization of Lebanon and Iraq and to provide greater support to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

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