US national security adviser Ms Condoleezza Rice will hold talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in the Middle East this weekend.
Ms Rice will go to the Middle East via London, where she will give a speech on Thursday and hold talks with British officials.
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US national security adviser Ms Condoleezza
Rice pictured with Mr Colin Powell |
Secretary of State Colin Powell and Ms Rice were designated by President George W. Bush as key US representatives in the effort to get Israel and the Palestinians behind a US-backed peace "road map" envisioning a Palestinian state by 2005.
The plan has been threatened by renewed violence between the parties in the weeks since Mr Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas held a summit on June 4th in Jordan and announced support for the plan.
Four Palestinian militants were killed by an explosion in the Gaza Strip yesterday even as Mr Powell and other diplomats sought concessions in peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
It is unclear whether Ms Rice will be discussing with British officials the absence of conclusive evidence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction - the stated reason behind the US-led war on Iraq.