By KUNA,
Gaza : US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice met early on Tuesday Israeli Prime minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem, Israeli daily “Yedioth Ahronoth” reported.
According to the daily, the talks were held at Olmert’s house, where they discussed latest round of the ongoing negotiations between the Palestinian authority and Israel.
Rice and Olmert also went over what the daily termed “the Iranian nuclear threat” as well as the ongoing effort to release the imprisoned Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, captured by three Palestinian factions.
Rice is scheduled to meet her Israeli counterpart, Tzipi Livni, later in the day, the daily added.
The official met, late on Monday, with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who told her that Israel cannot accept a “nuclear” Iran in the Middle East region.
Rice who arrived late on Monday came in a bid to difuse the Palestinian-Israeli dispute, where the Palestinian side demanded establishment of an independent Palestinian state by the end of this year.
She is reportedly determined to achieve a political accomplishment regarding the Israeli-Palestinian issue, in line with a pledge by US President George W. Bush to establish an independent Palestinian state.