US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday described Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as an "excellent partner" for the international community and accused the Islamist movement Hamas of isolating itself, according to dpa. Rice met the press after holding talks with her Portuguese counterpart Luis Amado in Lisbon, where she had arrived for a meeting of the Middle East Quartet comprising the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia. Abbas was the elected Palestinian president who had the authority to negotiate, Rice said. She said Hamas had placed itself outside the international norms relating to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, such as renouncing violence, accepting international agreements and recognizing Israel's right to exist. Amado also said he did not see the EU relating to Hamas, adding that the union had decided to support Abbas and the Palestinian Authority.
