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03/31/2006:

"US's Rice: US Might Back Israeli Border Plans -BBC"

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. may be open to backing Israel's Kadima party in plans to draw the country's borders without Palestinian input, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as saying on its Web site Thursday.

The BBC said Rice made the statements in speaking to reporters traveling with her to Berlin for talks about Iran's nuclear development program.

The BBC added that Rice said a negotiated deal with the Palestinians was preferable, but seemed unlikely after the militant group Hamas won Palestinian elections.

Rice "pointedly did not rule out supporting Kadima's plan for withdrawing from parts of the occupied West Bank by 2010 but consolidating other Jewish settlements there," the BBC said. "I would not on the face of it say ... that we do not think there is any value in what the Israelis are talking about," she said, according to the Web site.

"But we can't support it because we don't know. We haven't had a chance to talk to them about what they have in mind," she said.

The BBC quoted Rice as saying the Hamas-dominated Palestinian government "does not accept the concept of a negotiated solution" with Israel, having won seats in the Parliament based on a platform of resistance to Israel and opposing negotiated settlements.
nasdaq.com


Hamas threatens war over Israel's separation plan
ISRAEL’S new government-in-waiting last night came under immediate attack from Hamas.
Hours after the Islamist group was itself confirmed as the new Palestinian government, a spokesman said that the Israeli electorate’s choice of Ehud Olmert as the new Prime Minister could escalate the conflict.

The hardline Hamas government is due to be sworn in within 48 hours after the Palestinian parliament yesterday voted 71-36 to approve Ismail Haniya’s 25-member Cabinet and Islamist programme.

Sami Abu Zohri, a Hamas spokesman, said: “The initial results show that the Israelis voted for Olmert’s plan, which is a declaration of war on the Palestinians and the liquidation of Palestinian rights. The occupation is pushing the area towards greater escalation.”

Who's threatening who?