U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice played down expectations for breakthroughs as she opened a another round of Mideast shuttle diplomacy in Jerusalem Sunday and warned Israel against moves that might erode confidence in the process. As she flew into the region from Russia, Rice stated she hoped to help narrow gaps between the Israelis and Palestinians.
But she said she did not believe her visit would produce a joint statement or bring it to a point where invitations for the regional peace conference, expected to held in Annapolis, Md., in late November, could be issued. "I don't expect out of these meetings that there will be any particular outcome in the sense of breakthroughs on the document," she told reporters aboard her plane, according to the AP.
"I would just warn in advance not to expect that because this is really a work in progress," she said.
"Even if the intentions are good and even if the actual events on the ground are intended to produce a certain kind of outcome, this is a very delicate time," Rice said. "It's just a time to be extremely careful."
Rice will shuttle between Israel and the West Bank over the next three days to, she said, "help them narrow differences that they may have about what the nature of this document has to be."
To build Arab support for the conference, she will also pay a visit to Egypt on Tuesday and cap her trip in London on Thursday to see King Abdullah of Jordan who will be in the British capital.
Rice said she would be looking for "clarity on where the parties see themselves in the negotiations on their bilateral statement" that she said should at least touch on the key "final status" issues. "I do think it's important that they address the core issues in some fashion," she said. "I also think it's important that the document be substantive enough that it points that there is a way forward toward the establishment of a Palestinian state."
But she added: "Obviously, as one would expect at this point in time, there are issues and differences to bridge in the nature of the document."
