Middle East:Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas yesterday categorically ruled out the idea of a Palestinian state within temporary borders, telling US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice in Ramallah that he opposed provisional agreements and was "ready for end-game negotiations".
"I have stressed to the secretary of state our rejection of temporary solutions, including provisional borders for our state," he said after meeting Dr Rice, who hopes to boost Mr Abbas in his showdown with the Hamas movement.
There have been reports that the Bush administration is considering skipping the first phase of the internationally backed "road map" peace plan, which neither Israel nor the Palestinians have implemented, and moving directly to the second phase, which includes the creation of a temporary Palestinian state. The first phase of the plan calls on Israel to evacuate illegal West Bank settlement outposts and freeze construction in existing settlements, and requires that the Palestinians end violence and dismantle the terror infrastructure in the territories.
Earlier this month, Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, who met Dr Rice on Saturday, expressed some support for the idea of jumping directly to phase two of the road map. The Palestinians, however, fear that if they agree to a temporary state, the provisional borders will become final and they will be left with a shrunken state in the West Bank.
The secretary of state did not sound overly enthusiastic about the Palestinian leader's call for the sides to move to final status negotiations. "I've heard how he [Mr Abbas] sees the road map and to get to that end state," she told reporters. "So I think it's not a bad thing to listen. But . . . it's also important to act and we'll look for ways to act."
Dr Rice, who spoke with Mr Abbas at a joint press conference, said she had heard "loud and clear the call for deeper American engagement" and that in the coming months she would work toward accelerating the road map to "show the Palestinian people how we might move towards the establishment of a Palestinian state". But she did not outline any concrete measures the administration was planning.
Mr Abbas told the secretary of state that Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert had done little to implement pledges he made when the two leaders met a few weeks ago. This included an assurance by Mr Olmert that he would remove some of the roadblocks in the West Bank that Israel says are essential for stopping suicide bombers, but which make travel an ordeal for Palestinians. Recent media reports have claimed that there has been almost no easing of travel restrictions since the Abbas-Olmert meeting.
Israeli observers believe Dr Rice has few illusions about the chances of renewing Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, but is visiting the region largely in an effort to bolster pro-American regimes such as Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, in the face of what Washington perceives as Iran's growing prominence.