US secretary of state says will leave 'no stone unturned' to reach Israeli-Palestinian peace deal before January 2009, but concedes time is running out
Reuters
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Tuesday she would leave "no stone unturned" to reach an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal before leaving office but conceded time was running out. Speaking to a US conference on business investment in Palestinian areas, Rice said she still hoped to reach the Bush administration's goal of a peace deal by the end of 2008 that was set at a conference in Annapolis nearly a year ago.
"I still believe that we must make every effort in the time that we have to lay this foundation for peace, and that still means that we must do everything that we can ... to find an agreement between these parties by the end of the year," Rice said.
"Know too that until that moment when I leave office, I will leave no stone unturned to see if we can finally resolve this conflict," Rice said.
The Bush administration's term ends in January 2009.
"It is very difficult, there is a hard road ahead, but if we do not try, we certainly will not succeed," she said, adding she was sure negotiations would ultimately lead to a Palestinian state.
Rice has made multiple trips to the Middle East to get a peace agreement. But U.S.-sponsored negotiations have made little progress, and Israeli and Palestinian officials have expressed doubt whether the year-end target is realistic.
An additional problem has been political upheaval in Israel, where Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is trying to form a new government after Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigned over a corruption scandal.
Rice said the parties should also "redouble their efforts" for peace. The Palestinian Authority must continue to dismantle "the infrastructure of terrorism" while Israel must halt settlement activity and do more to lift restrictions on movement of Palestinian workers and business people, she said.
But she did not get into details of the talks. Major issues are the borders of a future Palestinian state, the status of Jerusalem and what will happen to Palestinian refugees.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack insisted to reporters after Rice's speech there had been "quite a bit of progress" and the fact this progress was kept quiet was an indication of their seriousness in trying to reach a deal.
The gathering of US business leaders at the Chamber of Commerce headquarters was a follow-up to a Bethlehem conference last May at which private investors pledged to pump $1.4 billion into Palestinian businesses to bolster the economy.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said most investment so far had gone into the West Bank "but we look forward to the day when we will be able to do this in Gaza, for Gaza is, and will always be an integral part of our homeland."
In the West Bank, run by the Palestinian Authority of Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas, 2.5 million people live under Israeli occupation. In Gaza, run by Hamas since it routed Abbas' forces in 2007, 1.5 million live under an Israeli blockade.
Fayyad said the business investment effort was aimed at preparing for a Palestinian state. "This is not about making the occupation work better. This is about ending it," he said.
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