Quds city Abbas, who plans a summit meeting with Sharon on Tuesday, promised "total coordination with the Israeli side" toward a peaceful pullout. He emphasized that the Palestinians were committed to a 4-month-old truce with Israel. But he also complained that Israel repeatedly had violated the agreement. He appealed to Israel to release Palestinian prisoners and lift roadblocks. Rice said Abbas has made progress to ready Palestinian security and defense forces. Much more work lies ahead, she said, "particularly to use actively the security forces to combat lawlessness and to combat terrorism." Rice's visit was her second trip to see Abbas in Ramallah.
