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Rice in Mid-East diplomacy talks Rice begins new Mid-East mission
(about 2 hours later)
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is on her way to the Middle East on her first regional visit since the creation of a Palestinian unity government. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is heading to the Middle East on her first visit since the creation of a Palestinian unity government.
It is her seventh trip to the region in the space of eight months. Ms Rice first holds talks with Arab leaders in Egypt to spur them to revive a plan for a peace deal with Israel.
Ms Rice is expected to hold talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas but will first meet Arab leaders in Egypt. Washington hopes broader Arab-Israeli reconciliation could help foster an Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Correspondents say she is trying to focus minds on efforts to create a Palestinian state. Her mission comes as a top US diplomat warned that strife in Iraq could be a danger to the whole Middle East.
In Egypt's city of Aswan, Ms Rice will meet leaders from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - the so-called Arab Quartet of moderate US allies - officials said. The outgoing US ambassador in Baghdad, Zalmay Khalilzad, said a sectarian divide was developing across the Middle East because of the bloodshed between Sunni and Shia Arabs in Iraq.
You need the energy and the help of moving forward on the Arab-Israel side, not at the end of the process, but earlier on in the process Condoleezza RiceYou need the energy and the help of moving forward on the Arab-Israel side, not at the end of the process, but earlier on in the process Condoleezza Rice
She will then hold talks with Mr Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah and Israel's Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem before flying to Jordan for a meeting with King Abdullah II. "It's in everyone's interest...to come together to contain and reverse that tendency towards polarisation along sectarian lines. This could destabilise the entire region," Mr Khalilzad told the BBC.
Saudi plan
The BBC's Jonathan Beale, who is travelling with the secretary of state, says there is a new sense of urgency in addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, not least because Arab nations say it is essential to bringing about stability in Iraq and across the region.
In the Egyptian city of Aswan, Ms Rice will meet leaders from Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates - the so-called Arab Quartet of moderate US allies - officials said.
She will then hold talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Ramallah and Israel's Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem before flying to Jordan for a meeting with King Abdullah II.
In order to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "you need the energy and the help of moving forward on the Arab-Israel side... earlier on in the process," Ms Rice said as she left Washington.In order to find a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict "you need the energy and the help of moving forward on the Arab-Israel side... earlier on in the process," Ms Rice said as she left Washington.
Condoleezza Rice's shuttle diplomacy comes as the outgoing US ambassador in Baghdad warned that events in Iraq could be a danger to the entire region. The US is keen for Arab states, who meet at a summit in Saudi Arabia on 28 March, to revive a 2002 Saudi initiative to resolve the Arab-Israeli problem.
Zalmay Khalilzad said a sectarian divide was developing across the Middle East because of the bloodshed between Sunni and Shia Arabs in Iraq. The plan offers Israel normalisation of ties with Arab states if it pulls out of all Arab land it occupied in 1967.
Urgency Israel rejected the plan outright after it was first proposed at an Arab summit in Beirut in 2002 but Mr Olmert is now giving it a guarded welcome.
The BBC's Jonathan Beale, who is travelling with the secretary of state, says there is a new sense of urgency in addressing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, not least because Arab neighbours say it is essential to bringing about stability. Focus minds
Washington has not recognised the Palestinian unity government sworn in last Saturday. Ms Rice's trip is her seventh to the region in eight months and so far she has little to show for her efforts, our correspondents says.
It refuses to deal with those ministers who are members of the Islamic group Hamas, which regards as a terrorist group. Washington has not recognised the Palestinian unity government and refuses to deal with those ministers who are members of the Islamic group Hamas, which regards as a terrorist group.
However Ms Rice and her officials are continuing to talk to Mr Abbas and other moderates. However, Ms Rice and her officials are continuing to talk to Mr Abbas and other moderates - a sign, according to our correspondent, that ideology is no longer the driving force for the Bush administration's foreign policy agenda.
Ms Rice will be aiming to focus minds on what she calls the political horizon of creating a peaceful Palestinian state.
The unity government was formed after Hamas - which has dominated the Palestinian cabinet since elections in January 2006 - agreed to share power with Mr Abbas's moderate Fatah faction.The unity government was formed after Hamas - which has dominated the Palestinian cabinet since elections in January 2006 - agreed to share power with Mr Abbas's moderate Fatah faction.
The deal followed several months of fighting between the two groups, which left more than 140 people dead.The deal followed several months of fighting between the two groups, which left more than 140 people dead.
Last month, Ms Rice held her first joint meeting with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders in Jerusalem.
She reported no tangible progress at the summit, but said the leaders had agreed to meet again soon.