Quds city, Nov 14, SPA -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday in a new push to revive peace moves stalled by violence. Rice, on her fourth visit to the region this year, planned to hold separate talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah later in the day. Entering her meeting with Sharon, Rice praised the prime minister for carrying out the Gaza pullout, Israel's first removal of Jewish settlements on occupied land Palestinians want for a future state, according to a report of Reuters. "I look forward to continue to work with you and your team towards movement, towards a two-state solution in which Israel and the Palestinians can live in peace, free of terror," Rice told Sharon at the start of their talks. Rice was also expected to press Sharon to do more to improve the daily lives of Palestinians and to meet commitments in the U.S.-sponsored "road map", which include a freeze on settlement building in the West Bank. "Israel should do nothing to try and prejudge final status or the outlines of a final settlement," Rice told reporters travelling with her from Washington.
