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/ 30 November 2006
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, after meeting United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on a new push for Middle East peace, said on Thursday that talks on a unity government with Hamas had reached a ”dead end”. The US wants to strengthen Abbas, a moderate who has been caught in a power struggle with the Hamas Islamist group.
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/ 18 October 2006
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought on Wednesday on a whistle-stop tour of the region to ensure North Asian powers were committed to a unified stance on United Nations sanctions following North Korea’s nuclear test. Rice arrived in Tokyo for talks with the Japanese foreign and defence ministers as intelligence experts warned a second nuclear test was likely.
Major powers will begin discussing an Iran sanctions resolution at a meeting in Europe next week if Tehran continues to defy a United Nations Security Council demand to halt uranium enrichment, the United States State Department said on Wednesday. But Iranian President Mohammad Ahmadinejad remained unmoved, telling state media: ”Sanctions cannot discourage people from making progress.”
Israel agreed on Tuesday to allow aid airlifts to Lebanon but said it was determined to pursue a war against Hezbollah that key ally the United States has sanctioned. After meeting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said both agreed that disarming Hezbollah and deploying an international force were key to resolving the two-week-old crisis.
The United Kingdom hopes a peace plan for Lebanon can emerge within days that could lead to a cessation of hostilities, Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Monday. But he said details need to be worked out for an international force before a ceasefire could be declared that would hold on both sides.