- Title: ISRAEL: RICE LEAVES JERUSALEM FOR MEETING WITH SHARON.
- Date: 22nd July 2005
- Summary: (BN05)JERUSALEM (JULY 22, 2005) (REUTERS) 1. GV: EXTERIOR OF HOTEL 0.06 2. GV/GV/PAN: U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE'S CAR CONVOY HEADING ISRAELI PARLIAMENT (3 SHOTS) 0.50 3. LV/GV/PAN: RICE'S HELICOPTER TAKING OFF AT PARLIAMENT'S LANDING PAD; HELICOPTER HEADING FOR ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON'S RANCH (2 SHOTS) 1.20
- Embargoed: 6th August 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: JERUSALEM/ SYCAMORE RANCH, SOUTHERN ISRAEL
- Country: Israel
- Reuters ID: LVA7K70Y9QD1E316P90PWTMGP5MN
- Story Text: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leaves
Jerusalem to meet Israel's prime minister Ariel Sharon
in his southern ranch.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left Jerusalem for southern Israel on Friday (July 22) to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at his Sycamore ranch.
Rice, who arrived in the region to guarantee the implementation of a
planned Israeli pullout from occupied territory slated for mid-August, is also due to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday (July 23). A recent upsurge in violence has threaten Israel's plan to pull out of Gaza and a corner of the West Bank.
Israeli rightists have vowed to resist evacuation, seeing Sharon's plan
as a betrayal of Jewish claims on biblical land and a reward for a 4
1/2-year-old Palestinian uprising. The militants themselves say the pullout is a victory.
Officials estimate that the withdrawals could take between two and six
weeks depending on the level of settler resistance. Another factor is possible attacks on Israelis by Palestinian militants.
Palestinians welcome withdrawals from occupied land where they want a
state, but fear Israel will give them Gaza while it increases its hold on the West Bank. The withdrawal will mean uprooting 9,000 of some 240,000 settlers in the territories.
Earlier on Friday the Israeli Ha'aretz Web site reported that Rice has
proposed a summit to bring together Israel and Arab countries after the
expected withdrawal which was dubbed by Sharon as "disengagement
plan".
But neither U.S. nor Israeli officials could confirm the reports.
The Web site said Rice made the suggestion at a meeting in Jerusalem on
Thursday (July 21) with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. The report was also carried by Voice of Israel radio.
A State Department official in Washington who asked not to be named
said "we always encourage governments that do not have relations with
Israel to move to get them" but did not know if Rice had raised such an
idea.
A spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry said he could not confirm
whether the reports were correct.
The reports said the proposed conference would be sponsored by the
United States and Russia. The radio said the aim would be "to promote the resumption of relations between Israel and the North African and Persian Gulf countries."
Spurred by new hopes for peace since agreeing a ceasefire with the
Palestinians in February, Israel has been working hard
to try to get more Arab states to establish ties.
But most appear reluctant, especially while Israel still occupies land
captured from Arabs in the 1967 Middle East war.
Sharon's planned Gaza withdrawal, would be the first time Israel has
removed settlements from land that Palestinians want for a state. Much larger West Bank settlements will remain.
Washington sees the removal of settlements as a possible step to
reviving negotiations on Palestinian statehood and
positive for wider hopes of peace in the Middle East.
Currently three Arab League members have diplomatic ties with Israel --
Egypt, Jordan and the northwest African country of Mauritania.
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