Rice Backs Mideast Moderates, but Offers No Plan

[spindrifter]

By THOM SHANKER and GREG MYRE
Published: January 14, 2007

JERUSALEM, Jan. 13 — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Israeli counterpart declared their mutual backing on Saturday for a bilateral diplomatic strategy that would support moderate political leaders across the Middle East, but after a first evening of talks here offered little new to push ahead any agreement with the Palestinians.

Ms. Rice played down expectations for any breakthrough during her travels.

“I expect this trip to really be one in which we have intensive consultations,” she said to open weeklong travels across the Middle East and the Persian Gulf before consulting with allies in Western Europe. “I’m not coming with a proposal. I’m not coming with a plan.”

The focus of her first two days is to push Israeli and Palestinian leaders to move forward on a number of smaller issues, and then she will speak with other regional allies to try to gather support for President Bush’s new strategy for Iraq.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/world/middleeast/14rice.html?hp&ex=1168750800&en=47f66a1c3a6de2ba&ei=5094&partner=homepage