Abbas says no to resumption of peace talks

SUS Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice failed to win a public commitment from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday to resume peace talks with Israel.

Mr Abbas suspended negotiations in protest at a five-day Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that killed over 120 people.

Though Israeli troops withdrew on Monday from the enclave, which is controlled by Abbas's Islamist rivals, Israeli soldiers again clashed with Hamas militants on the ground late yesterday.

Dr Rice told a joint news conference with Mr Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah: "We look forward to the resumption of those negotiations as soon as possible".

US officials said that, while Mr Abbas avoided making clear when he might resume talks, they expected him to return soon, saying it was not politically feasible for him to do it now.

On a mission to salvage peace talks, Dr Rice gave no sign she secured Mr Abbas's agreement to return to talks he suspended on Sunday in protest at an Israeli operation in the Gaza Strip that killed more than 120 Palestinians. Medical workers said about half were civilians.

On withdrawing its troops on Monday, Israel threatened to send its forces back if cross-border rocket attacks continued. They did go on, and Israel mounted new air strikes and, after dark, apparently sent in some troops. Palestinian witnesses and Hamas officials said a column of Israeli vehicles covered by helicopters came under mortar and machinegun fire in the centre of Gaza's border with Israel.

"We made some progress but we're not there yet," said a senior US official after Dr Rice's talks with Mr Abbas.

However, at the news conference, President Abbas was vague and sidestepped a question on when talks might get under way.

"I call on the Israeli government to halt its aggression in order that we can afford the necessary atmosphere to conduct the negotiations," Mr Abbas said, without setting any timeframe for their resumption.

The US hopes a deal on Palestinian statehood can be reached before President George W. Bush leaves office in January. In Washington, Mr Bush said he was "optimistic."

"Ten months is a long time. There's plenty of time to get a deal done," Mr Bush said after White House talks with Jordan's King Abdullah.

After meeting Mr Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Dr Rice went to Jerusalem where she had dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. She is scheduled to hold further talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials today before leaving the region for Brussels.