RIYADH, 14 January 2007 — Urging Arab states to step up support for the Iraqi government and exploring prospects for a renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace effort are high on the agenda of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s upcoming visit to the Kingdom.
Although specifics are not available, Melissa Ford, press attaché at the US Embassy in Riyadh, confirmed yesterday that Rice would arrive here today or tomorrow.
“Rice will be accompanied by top US officials and will hold talks with senior Saudi officials during her stay here,” said Ford.
Ford would not provide further details of Rice’s visit, such as what specifically she would be asking of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosque King Abdullah.
Rice will also be in Kuwait next week to urge the Gulf states to rally around the Iraqi government with, among other things, debt relief, security-forces training and higher levels of diplomatic representation in Baghdad.
Rice’s visit this week is a follow-up to President George Bush’s new plans to quell escalating violence in Iraq and to lay fresh groundwork to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Rice is also scheduled to Ramallah, Cairo and Amman after holding talks with top Israeli officials today, Ford said.
Despite the difficulties in Iraq, Rice said in a departure statement that she does not see the Middle East picture as entirely bleak, and that a political “realignment” may be under way in the region.
Rice has said that she has no specific plan or proposal to float to the Middle East leaders. After her trip to the region she will conclude her visit with consultations in Berlin and London.
In Kuwait, Rice will meet with the foreign ministers of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries, Egypt and Jordan, according to GCC General Secretariat sources.
The bipartisan Baker-Hamilton commission last month urged a new US push on the Israeli-Palestinian front to help bring peace to Iraq.
But the secretary told the House International Relations Committee that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict needs to be resolved “on its own terms,” and that it is hard to imagine a truly different kind of Middle East without a settlement.
The Bush administration is also trying to bolster Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in his efforts. Talking to reporters in the US on Friday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack confirmed the Bush administration has asked Congress to approve an $86-million aid package for Palestinian security forces.
But US State Department officials have cautioned in advance that no breakthroughs or agreements can be expected from Rice’s talks in Jerusalem and the West Bank where she will meet with President Abbas.
