Rice pushes for peace in Middle East

The US Secretary of State is in the West Bank to try to bring new energy to peace efforts. Condoleezza Rice held meetings with the Palestinian President there after a surprise ceasefire took hold in Gaza over the weekend. But for Mahmoud Abbas, the political outlook is gloomy – he said efforts to reach a unity government with Hamas had reached a “dead end”. He said further discussion was needed before he decided what move to take next. There are fears that if he adopts a hardline against Hamas and dismisses the government a civil war could be triggered. Rice is to head to Israel next, where she is expected to urge for restrictions on Palestinians to be eased.

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