Rice back in the Mideast to push peace talks

During her second trip to the region this month to try to bolster the faltering Middle East peace process, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday she expected Israel to take what she called meaningful steps to improve the lives of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

"I would hope ... we're going to be able to do some things, or that Israel and the Palestinians together will be able to do some things, that are meaningful both for security (for Israel) and for economic viability (for Palestinians)," Rice told a joint news conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.

She is expected to push both sides to abide by their commitments under an internationally-drafted roadmap for peace and in particular for Israel to ease restrictions on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

"I will spend a good deal of time on issues concerning the West Bank and issues concerning the ability to provide better life for people of the West Bank, including ways to improve movement access," Rice told reporters traveling with her.

"The improvement of life on the ground is the piece that I think really has to be pushed forward very heard," she said.

Rice started her visit on Saturday with a working dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and is due to meet senior Israeli and Palestinian officials on Sunday, including Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.

"I am not coming to insert American ideas into the process. I think they are doing a lot of work on their own but I do want to talk to them to get some sense of how it is going," Rice said.

Rice will encourage renewal of regular meetings between Olmert and Abbas, suspended in the wake of a deadly Israeli blitz in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip last month.

She is expected to hold a three-way meeting with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, at which she is expected to press the two sides to carry out their roadmap commitments.