Rice, Olmert scheduled to meet
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet today with Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as the U.S. tries to pave the way for revived peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Rice’s trip to Jerusalem, announced Wednesday by State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, will follow a meeting Rice has scheduled for earlier today with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Jericho.
Rice is trying to cement a shaky cease-fire agreement between the two sides in Gaza. While U.S. officials are reluctant to express optimism, a long-lasting political deal between Israel and the Palestinians – backed by several Arab countries – would be a considerable victory for the Bush administration and is considered a necessity to quiet violence throughout the region, including Iraq.
The U.S. hopes the cease-fire will be extended beyond Gaza to the West Bank, a State Department official speaking on condition of anonymity told reporters.
Washington
Al-Qaida expanding Somalia influence
Al-Qaida militants are operating with “great comfort” in Somalia, providing training and assistance to a radical military element loyal to the Islamic group that controls most of southern Somalia, a senior State Department official said Wednesday.
Jendayi Frazer, who heads the department’s Africa bureau, said a priority U.S. goal is the capture of three militants wanted for the bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 and a hotel in Kenya in 2002. The three are from Sudan, Kenya and the Comoros Islands, located off Africa’s east coast.
She emphasized that the al-Qaida presence goes well beyond the three suspects.
The administration has looked on with anxiety as Islamic militants, operating under the umbrella of the Union of Islamic Courts, have expanded their zone of influence in the country while marginalizing a secular government that lacks authority despite the backing of the United Nations and the United States.
The secular authority, known as the transitional federal government, is based in the western Somali town of Baidoa, unable to expand its reach further.