Rice seeks peace momentum in Middle East visit

JERUSALEM, Aug 1 (Reuters) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice won today a Saudi pledge of support for a US-backed West Asia peace conference and began a visit to Israel and the West Bank with a call to seize new opportunities.

In talks in the region, Rice has been trying to inject new momentum into peacemaking between Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's West Bank government after the violent takeover of the Gaza Strip by Hamas Islamists in June.

''Israel is not going to miss this opportunity, we are not going to miss the opportunity to promote a dialogue with Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian government,'' said Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, with Rice at her side.

Livni said it was important to put ''significant'' issues on the table with the Palestinians but indicated the Israeli government was not yet ready to accept Abbas's proposal to negotiate so-called final-status matters.

''Sometimes it is not wise to put the most sensitive issues first,'' she said when asked whether Israel was prepared to look at the most difficult issues such as future borders with a Palestinian state, Jerusalem and refugees.

Riyad al-Malki, the Palestinian information minister, said in the West Bank city of Ramallah the Palestinian government would ask Rice ''to put pressure on the Israeli side to respond to our security needs''.

Malki defined those needs as a withdrawal of Israeli forces from positions around major West Bank cities and an expanded Israeli amnesty for wanted Palestinians.

Rice said she aimed in her visits to Jerusalem and to Ramallah on Thursday, where she will meet Abbas, to take advantage of ''mutual opportunities'' to advance a two-state solution between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

''This is a time to seize opportunities and it is a time to proceed in a prepared and careful way as one does not want to miss opportunities because of a lack of preparation but it is nonetheless a time when we have to take advantage of what is before us,'' said Rice.

SAUDI SUPPORT Rice flew to Israel from Saudi Arabia, where Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said Riyadh welcomed US President George W Bush's initiative to hold a West Asia peace conference later this year. No date or venue has been set.

''There is an international movement (for peace) ... Israel should respond to these pressures,'' Prince Saud said, without promising that Saudi Arabia would attend the conference.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said he hoped many Arab countries, including Saudi Arabia, would come to the gathering.

''This meeting can grant an umbrella for the bilateral talks between Israel and the Palestinians,'' a statement from his office said.

Both Livni and Rice, who last visited Israel in March, said they were encouraged by the initial Saudi response but the top US diplomat made clear she had not yet issued any invitations to the meeting.

Prince Saud, in another nod to the United States, announced at a news conference with Rice and U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates that Saudi Arabia was exploring opening an embassy in Baghdad and would send a delegation there to pursue the matter.

''This is something that we have encouraged ... It is an important step,'' Rice said in Jeddah.

With Washington keen to show progress in the West Asia despite the crisis in Iraq, Rice may press Olmert to respond to Saudi support for an international conference by easing restrictions on Palestinians and taking more steps to revive statehood talks.

Israeli officials said Olmert, who Rice is meeting for dinner today, was prepared to discuss borders and other core issues in ''general terms'' that could lead to an ''agreement of principles'' for establishing a Palestinian state.

But Olmert has not agreed to full-fledged negotiations over the main final-status issues. Israeli officials said any commitment now could raise expectations and lead to further violence if talks broke down.

Olmert and Abbas are expected to meet next week in Jericho.

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