Rice urges Abbas, Olmert to hold meaningful peace summit

MIDDLE EAST: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Israelis and Palestinians on Thursday to hold serious talks on creating a Palestinian state, insisting a looming peace summit be meaningful.

"The international meeting has to be serious. It has to be substantive," Rice told a news conference with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on a visit overshadowed by Israel declaring that the Gaza Strip was a "hostile entity."

"The issue here is to move the process forward, to a document that will help lay a foundation so there can be serious negotiations on the establishment of a Palestinian state as soon as possible," Rice added.

She spent two hours locked in talks with Abbas and his prime minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah, before a second meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to prepare for the US-sponsored conference expected in November.

Rice pledged that she, US President George W. Bush, Olmert and Abbas would work "very aggressively, very urgently to lay the groundwork for a successful meeting ... that advances the cause of the Palestinian state.

Abbas said that in meetings with Olmert the two leaders "were serious in our quest to reach a framework agreement on final status questions, in other words borders, Jerusalem, refugees, settlements and water."

The Palestinian leader said that he and Rice discussed "the good preparation that is needed to assure the success" of the summit which he said should take place in mid-November.

The top US diplomat later met Olmert before boarding a flight back to the United States for the UN General Assembly and talks with the other main sponsors of the stalled Middle East peace process.

On the airplane, Rice was upbeat about the summit.

"I think the announcement of an international gathering some time in the fall (autumn) has helped to galvanize people to try to move forward," she said.

Meanwhile Olmert promised to hold further talks with Abbas after the Jewish high holidays that end next month.

"After the holidays, I will meet Abu Mazen again," Olmert said in a keynote speech delivered to his centrist Kadima party in the town of Petah Tikva.

Israel will close down totally, sealing itself off from the outside world for 24 hours to mark the Jewish day of atonement, Yom Kippur, from Friday at sundown until Saturday evening.

The country will then celebrate the Jewish festival of Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, from next Thursday until October 4.

"We want to reach understandings that will permit the conclusion of an agreement with the Palestinians in order to foster a successful international conference in November," Olmert added.

"We have decided to go forward in the peace process with the Palestinians... and I will continue to support Abu Mazen against the extremists of Hamas and Islamic Jihad," Olmert said. Earlier Olmert said that Palestinian prisoners loyal to president Mahmud Abbas would soon be released, without saying how many.

"We will soon release Palestinian prisoners, people who do not have blood on their hands, those who renounce terrorism and who support Abu Mazen (Abbas)," Olmert said in a keynote address to his centrist Kadima party.

Abbas and Olmert have been at odds over what exactly they want to achieve before the conference.

Olmert lowered expectations on Sunday, saying both sides will issue a joint declaration during the meeting instead of an agreement of principles. In response, the Palestinian Authority said substance is what mattered.

The Palestinians have long wanted a detailed framework agreement on core issues while Israel has talked about a more vague declaration of principles.

However, on the plane, Rice lauded both leaders for their efforts.

"I think they are building some trust. Everybody now talks about the excellent atmosphere between them," she said.

Rice's sixth visit to the region this year was overshadowed when Israel on Wednesday branded Gaza a "hostile entity" and warned it could cut basic supplies to the impoverished Hamas-run territory in response to rocket attacks.

Abbas said the declaration carried "grave political significance".

"All these measures undermine the efforts exerted by our government to establish security and the rule of law in all Palestinian territories. We will continue to supply our people in Gaza with all basic supplies," he said.

Rice on Wednesday said she made a distinction between Hamas and the civilian population, vowing not to "abandon innocent Palestinians" but calling Hamas a hostile entity. "It is a hostile entity to the United States as well."

Gaza, Friday, AFP