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| Reach out to Israel, Arabs urged | Reach out to Israel, Arabs urged |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called on Arab nations to reach out to Israel. | US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has called on Arab nations to reach out to Israel. |
| Ms Rice was speaking in Jerusalem after three days of meetings with Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders. | Ms Rice was speaking in Jerusalem after three days of meetings with Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders. |
| She said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had agreed to meet every two weeks. | She said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had agreed to meet every two weeks. |
| Ms Rice also said there was a "path of co-operation" with the new Palestinian unity government. | Ms Rice also said there was a "path of co-operation" with the new Palestinian unity government. |
| The secretary of state was speaking on the eve of the opening of an Arab League summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. | The secretary of state was speaking on the eve of the opening of an Arab League summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. |
| 'Complex' issues | |
| Ms Rice urged Arab nations to take a more active role in regional peace efforts, although she said the presence of the militant Hamas faction in the Palestinian government made the issues "more complex". | |
| "The Arab states must be reaching out to Israel... to show Israel that they accept its place in the Middle East," she said. | |
| Ms Rice said there could be co-operation with the new Palestinian unity government but stressed again that Hamas must renounce violence. | |
| Hamas has refused to adhere to three key international demands to recognise Israel, renounce violence and honour previous peace agreements. | |
| Ms Rice said Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas would meet regularly and that she would attend some of the meetings. | |
| "They achieved something, which is the very regularised meetings between the two of them, in which they will not just talk about their day-to-day issues, but also about a political horizon," she said. | |
| Ms Rice said it was "not inconceivable" for a peace deal to be reached before the end of US President George W Bush's tenure. | |
| But she added: "We're not yet at the... [stage] of final status" negotiations. |