U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is scheduled to arrive in Israel Saturday night to give another push for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, the Jerusalem Post reported late Thursday.
Her two-day visit is aimed at determining where Israel and the Palestinians are in their negotiations and what plans they can move forward, said the report, adding that Rice will also prepare the ground for U.S. President George W. Bush's mid-May tour.
A trilateral meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is not expected, because Abbas is still recovering from an angiogram he took in Amman on Thursday.
However, the report quoted diplomats as saying Rice might hold two trilateral meetings, one with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei, and the other with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
Israel and the Palestinians should make a decision on their final borders and settle the issue of settlement expansion in the West Bank, said Rice en route to London for a Middle East conference, a stopover before her trip to Israel.
Rice also warned that the expansion of Israeli settlements does not equal a "fait accompli" that the houses or towns would remain in Israeli hands.
Source:Xinhua
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