Washington pledges increased support in Mid-east

The US Secretary of State has met the Palestinian President in Ramallah. Pledging her support to Mahmoud Abbas, Condoleezza Rice said Washington is committed to the ‘roadmap’ for peace, and the eventual creation of a Palestinian state. “I know of the struggles Mr. President to improve the circumstances of daily life for the Palestinian people, particularly in the difficult circumstances in which now there are internal conflicts among the Palestinian people. But I want you to know that our desire is for the Palestinian people to be able to live in unity and in democracy and in peace, with a government that can get the respect and the support of the international community.”

Abbas said his Fatah party’s first priority is to set up a national unity government. But he’s admitted that talks with Hamas are unlikely to take place soon. Rice is in the Mid-east not to push a definite plan, but to sound out the region’s leaders. After yesterday’s talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni she’ll meet Prime Minister Ehud Olmert tomorrow.

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