By NNN-KUNA,
Ramallah : President Mahmoud Abbas has urged US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to fulfil America’s promise to halt Israeli plans to build more settlements.
Speaking at a press conference after meeting Rice Sunday, Abbas said that building more settlement means less chances for peace, adding that calming the situation here would help reduce the sufferings of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Regarding national dialogue, Abbas affirmed that the key for solving the inner-Palestinian conflict was all in the hand of Hamas, hoping that the opposite group would agree to the Yemeni initiative to solve the problem as did the Fatah movement.
Abbas also touched on the indirect Syrian-Israeli peace talks, saying that the Arab initiative for peace in the Middle East also included Arab and Palestinian lands.
The Palestinians would continue to negotiate with Israel under US supervision, affirmed Abbas.
On her part, Rice said that she was confident that by the end of the year a Palestinian independent state would exist, indicating that the settlements had a negative effect on peace talks.
Both sides should work on spreading an atmosphere of trust, said Rice who called on Israelis and Palestinians to work on what they promised.
Rice indicated that improving the lives of Palestinians and supporting their security forces was paramount, adding that the upcoming Berlin conference to back up the Palestinian security force would work on achieving these goals.
Rice will meet the head of the Palestinian team at the peace talks, Ahmed Qurei and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni to view what America could do to help both sides to reach peace.