US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice began talks with Palestinian Premier Ahmed Qorei yesterday, a US embassy spokesman said, aiming to renew Washington's pledge to foster the creation of a Palestinian state if its leadership combats "terrorism."
The two sat down for talks at a US installation in the capital, the spokesman said.
Rice was to give a briefing later on the discussions while Qorei holds meetings with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. Rice and Fischer also met briefly yesterday morning. The talks come on the heels of meetings between US Secretary of State Colin Powell and Qorei on Saturday in Jordan -- the highest-level US contact with the Palestinian official since he took office last year.
The Palestinian diplomatic representative in Germany, Abdallah Frangi, said in an interview with Berlin's InfoRadio yesterday that it was "no accident" that Rice's meeting with Qorei was taking place in Berlin.
Frangi said the Berlin talks were evidence "that Germany supports the peace process in the Middle East and I believe the Germans can do a lot in this area."
Rice said after her arrival in the German capital Sunday that she would set out the conditions during the meeting for further US support of the Palestinians in peace.
"I hope when I meet with the prime minister tomorrow to say to him that the United States is ready to be a partner to the Palestinian people in the building of their state," she told public broadcaster ARD.
She said that Washington expected "movement" from the Palestinians on the implementation of the road map for Middle East peace, which foresees an independent Palestinian state next to a secure Israel.
"We are ready to be full partners with the Palestinians in doing that. We need movement from the Palestinians on those elements of the road map."
PHISHING: The con might appear convincing, as the scam e-mails can coincide with genuine messages from Apple saying you have run out of storage For a while you have been getting messages from Apple saying “your iCloud storage is full.” They say you have exceeded your storage plan, so documents are no longer being backed up, and photos you take are not being uploaded. You have been resisting Apple’s efforts to get you to pay a minimum of ￡0.99 (US$1.33) a month for more storage, but it seems that you cannot keep putting off the inevitable: You have received an e-mail which says your iCloud account has been blocked, and your photos and videos would be deleted very soon. To keep them you need
The Israeli military has demolished entire villages as part of its invasion of south Lebanon, rigging homes with explosives and razing them to the ground in massive remote detonations. The Guardian reviewed three videos posted by the Israeli military and on social media, which showed Israel carrying out mass detonations in the villages of Taybeh, Naqoura and Deir Seryan along the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanese media has reported more mass detonations in other border villages, but satellite imagery was not readily available to verify these claims. The demolitions came after Israeli Minister of Defense Israel Katz called for the destruction of
A US YouTuber who caused outrage for filming himself kissing a statue commemorating Korean wartime sex slaves has been sentenced to six months in prison, a court in Seoul said yesterday. Johnny Somali, 25, gained notoriety several years ago for recording himself doing a series of provocative stunts in South Korea and Japan, and streaming them on platforms such as YouTube and Twitch. South Korean authorities indicted Somali — whose real name is Ramsey Khalid Ismael — in 2024 on public order violations and obstruction of business, and banned him from leaving the country. “The court has sentenced him to six months in
The death toll from a shooting in western Afghanistan rose to 11 on Saturday, after gunmen targeted civilians at a picnic spot in Herat, the provincial authority said. Bullet marks were visible on a wall of the Sayed Mohammad Agha Shia shrine, while bloodstains marked a blanket abandoned at the scene. “Eleven people have been recorded dead and eight others wounded from Friday’s incident, with the condition of two of the wounded reported as critical,” Herat’s information office said in a statement. The update raises a toll of seven killed provided on Friday by the Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs
RSS