Sharon meets with Rice on Gaza pullout

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met in Sharon's ranch in the southern Negev desert on Friday morning before Rice leaving for Beirut on a surprise visit.

The two-hour meeting began after breakfast, which took place away from the media.

No details is immediately available yet, but Israeli Army Radio quoted an Israeli official as saying that the talks was "excellent" and the two sides "discussed efforts to coordinate the pullout with the Palestinians and possible political developments after the pullout."

Before the meeting, Rice said that she is concerned over an upswing of violence in the Palestinian territories, urging all parties involved to work hard to not allow some "rejectionists to destroy this moment of hope".

"I think the issue is to work as hard as possible to prevent the worst outcomes and everybody has to play a part in that," Rice was quoted by media reports as saying.

After the Sharon-Rice meeting, the US top diplomat left for Beirut on a surprise visit to Lebanon, where she is expected to hold talks with pro-Syria Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and other high-ranking government officials.

Rice arrived in the region Thursday evening for a whirlwind three-day visit that will include talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials.

Her visit is aimed at demonstrating America's involvement on the eve of disengagement and strengthening efforts at coordination between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).

On Saturday, Rice will travel to the Palestinian areas and hold talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah. She is expected to urge the Palestinian side to make efforts to combat terror.

Israel is scheduled to evacuate some 8,500 settlers from all 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip and four of 120 in the West Bank next month.

Source: Xinhua