United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Wednesday evening, capping her first day of a 24-hour visit to Israel and the Palestinian areas, according to dpa. In an afternoon meeting with her Israeli counterpart Tzipi Livni and after talks in Egypt and Saudi Arabia Tuesday and earlier Wednesday, Rice said she was "encouraged by the attitude I have seen here among all the parties." Her latest Middle East visit, the first since March and since Hamas seized sole control of the Gaza Strip in mid-June, is aimed at courting moderate leaders in the region and at preparing the ground for a Middle East peace conference this autumn. Rice is due to end her tour in the West Bank city of Ramallah for talks Thursday morning with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Acting Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, while shunning the de-facto Hamas government in Gaza.
