By Xinhua
Washington : US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories Sep 18-20, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said at a briefing.
“The secretary will visit Jerusalem and Ramallah for meetings with officials from Israel and the Palestinian authority in order to continue the discussions on advancing the development of a political horizon and the two-state solution,” McCormack said Wednesday.
McCormack said that Rice would try to build upon some of the progress Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas made during their recent discussions.
“That is a very positive signal from the two sides that they are ready to move this process forward,” McCormack said.
The Middle East peace process has been stalled due to the violence between the two sides as well as the internal struggles between Palestinian factions.