JAKNEWS.COM---Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday she will ask Israel to remove more physical barriers erected in the West Bank as a bulwark against Palestinian militants.

The Bush administration also would like to see speedier progress toward a political settlement between Israel and the Palestinians, a goal of President Bush in his final year in office, Rice said en route to Israel and the West Bank for weekend meetings.

Bush's top diplomat said it's too early for pessimism, despite a lack of obvious accomplishment in talks Bush began with lofty ideals five months ago. Rice suggested she will lean on Israel to yank West Bank roadblocks that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says strangle the Palestinian economy.

"I understand that everyone — President Abbas, I, the president, would like to see things move more quickly," Rice said. "That's why we keep coming and pressing all the parties to meet their obligations."

Palestinians complain that Israel has played bait-and-switch — removing tiny barriers and calling them roadblocks or only partially dismantling obstacles after pledging to pull them down. Rice said she will question the "qualitative character" of some roadblocks Israel has already removed.

"Not all roadblocks are created equal," Rice said with a wry smile. "We don't want to get into a numbers game where you just remove X number of roadblocks but it's not improving the lives of the Palestinians."

Since the outbreak of Israeli-Palestinian fighting in 2000, Israel has covered the West Bank with a network of hundreds of checkpoints, gates and earthen barriers that protect Jewish settlers in the West Bank and make it harder for would-be terrorists to cross into Israel. Israel says the barriers are a necessary response to a security threat, but they have also stifled the Palestinian economy and caused widespread hardship to ordinary Palestinians.

The International Monetary Fund warned last month that the limping Palestinian economy would contract unless Israel eases restrictions on movement in the West Bank. Israel has removed some obstacles in recent weeks, but the report, citing U.N. figures, said that as of March, the overall number of obstacles had increased.

Rice was meeting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Saturday night, followed by meetings Sunday in Abbas' West Bank stronghold. Rice has visited the region nearly every month since the formal launch of peace talks last year, nudging both sides but yielding no public breakthroughs so far.

Speaking to reporters, Rice also addressed Palestinian concerns that Israel is undermining the work of ostensibly independent Palestinian security forces.

The United States recognizes Israel's security concerns, but Bush and others have sent strong messages "that when the Palestinians deploy, and when you're trying to give responsibility to the Palestinians, it's important not to take steps that undermine their authority," Rice said.

Hundreds of flag-waving Palestinian troops took up positions in the West Bank town of Jenin on Saturday — part of Abbas' attempt to assert control in preparation for what he hopes will be an Israeli withdrawal. However, the Israeli military and Abbas sharply disagree over whether the Palestinian forces are ready to replace Israeli troops.
 

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