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Rice: Border-crossings deal 'in sight'
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-14 20:52
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Israelis and
Palestinians on Monday to capitalize on the opportunity for peace and
cooperation offered by Israel's unilateral pullout from the long-occupied Gaza
Strip, saying a deal is "in sight" on border issues.
In this picture released by the American
Embassy in Israel, U.S Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, right, talks
with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon after their meeting in Jerusalem
Monday Nov. 14, 2005. Rice is in Israel as part of her Middle East tour
and will attend a ceremony to conmemorate the 10th anniversary of the
assassination of the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin later
Monday.Others unidentified. [AP] |
But despite last-minute bargaining sessions involving U.S. officials, Rice
was unable to announce a deal resolving the thorny and technical issues
involving border crossings.
Questions of security and authority at routes in and out of Gaza have stalled
progress between the two sides since the Palestinians took nominal control of
the seaside territory bordering Israel two months ago.
Rice was finishing a Mideast diplomatic trip later Monday with a condolence
call on Jordan, where terrorist bombings killed nearly 60 people at three Amman
hotels last week.
As she has done three other times this year, Rice shuttled between Jerusalem
and the Palestinian headquarters in Ramallah with a mix of praise and pressure
for both sides. She saw Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon over breakfast, then
held a long one-one-one session with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the
old offices where Abbas' predecessor, Yasser Arafat, holed up before his death
last year.
The top U.S. diplomat said Palestinians must do more to control militant and
terrorist groups and used coded language to say that Israel should not build
more illegal outposts in the West Bank or use a security barrier now under
construction to effect a land grab before the borders of an eventual Palestinian
state are fixed.
Although the Bush administration has tried not to put a U.S. stamp on
discussions among the Israelis and Palestinians, Rice had wanted to seal a
border deal to preserve momentum.
An agreement "is in sight," Rice said following her session with Abbas. "With
enough will and creativity I believe these issues can be resolved."
A deal to free up Palestinian movement while satisfying Israeli concerns
about terrorism would be a statement of progress beyond the technical issues at
hand.
International envoy James Wolfensohn warned Sunday that time is running out
for Israel and the Palestinians to wrap up a deal.
"I think it will be a tragedy for both sides if that opportunity is not done,
but can I give you a guarantee? No," Wolfensohn said. "I can only tell you that
we are clear in what we are trying to do, and in the next few days, we will know
whether we are successful or not."
Wolfensohn represents the United States, Russia, the
United Nations and the European Union. The so-called quartet has devised a road
map to prod Israel and the Palestinians into a negotiated settlement.
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