Rice in West Asia for fresh peace push

JERUSALEM, Jan 13 (Reuters) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice embarked on a fresh effort to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks today but said she would not present any concrete new initiative.

''I'm not coming with a proposal. I'm not coming with a plan,'' Rice told reporters on her way to Israel, according to a State Department transcript of her remarks.

US officials have sought to play down expectations for the trip, Rice's eighth to the region during her two years as secretary of state, and have suggested she is testing the waters to see what might be possible.

Rice will meet Israel's defence and foreign ministers later today and then see moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah tomorrow. She will meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday.

''I expect this trip to really be one in which we have intensive consultations,'' Rice said.

''If you don't lay the groundwork very well, then it's not going to succeed. And I think no plan can be made in America.'' Rice will also seek Arab help to stabilise Iraq during a West Asia trip that will include stops in Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait as well as Germany and Britain.

Her visit comes just days after President George W Bush said he would send 21,500 extra troops to Iraq despite fierce opposition from the new Democratic-led Congress.

Washington is under pressure from European and Arab allies to get more involved in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Rice said she wanted to talk about accelerating the US-backed peace ''road map''. Israelis and Palestinians have both failed to meet obligations under that peace blueprint.

Olmert and Abbas met on Dec. 23 and agreed to try to revive peace negotiations that collapsed in 2000.

Washington has been encouraging Olmert to meet Abbas again. Rice is expected to press Olmert to fulfil pledges made at the December meeting to remove West Bank roadblocks and release 100 million dollar in withheld tax funds to Abbas, Israeli officials said.

OBSTACLES TO PEACE Analysts cite a host of obstacles to making real peace progress.

The most immediate is a violent power struggle between Abbas and the Hamas-led government.

Olmert, meanwhile, has been weakened by last year's inconclusive war with the Hezbollah guerrilla group in Lebanon and several political scandals.

Abbas seeks a Palestinian state through negotiations with Israel.

The Hamas Islamists refuse to recognise Israel's right to exist, respect past peace deals or renounce violence -- three conditions for ending a Western aid boycott of their government.

Hamas's exiled leader, Khaled Meshaal, told Reuters on Wednesday that Hamas acknowledged the existence of Israel as a reality but formal recognition would only be considered when a Palestinian state was created. Olmert brushed off the comments.

While Bush's attention has been firmly focused on Iraq, there have been hints the White House is considering taking a new tack on the Israeli-Palestinian issue after what critics regard as six years of neglect.

The United States plans to provide Abbas with 86 million dollar to help train and equip his presidential guard, stepping up Washington's involvement in Abbas's power struggle with Hamas.

Reuters AB GC2107