( dpa )- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to the Middle East next week in another effort to get Israeli- Palestinian peace negotiations on track, the State Department said.
Spokesman Sean McCormack did not provide dates for Rice's trip or an itinerary.
"You should look at this as part of her process of working with both sides to narrow differences on the political issues that divide them," McCormack said.
The resumption of peace negotiations for the first time in more than seven years has gotten off to a rocky start following the Annapolis, Maryland conference hosted by President George W Bush in November.
The United States has sought to keep up the pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas . Vice President Dick Cheney was in the region over the weekend and on Monday for talks with Olmert and Abbas .
The latest peace effort has been undermined by fighting between the Israeli military and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and Israel's announcement that it will expand settlement activity in the Palestinian territories.
Washington ( dpa ) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will travel to the Middle East next week in another effort to get Israeli- Palestinian peace negotiations on track, the State Department said.
Spokesman Sean McCormack did not provide dates for Rice's trip or an itinerary.
"You should look at this as part of her process of working with both sides to narrow differences on the political issues that divide them," McCormack said.
The resumption of peace negotiations for the first time in more than seven years has gotten off to a rocky start following the Annapolis, Maryland conference hosted by President George W Bush in November.
The United States has sought to keep up the pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas . Vice President Dick Cheney was in the region over the weekend and on Monday for talks with Olmert and Abbas .
The latest peace effort has been undermined by fighting between the Israeli military and Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip and Israel's announcement that it will expand settlement activity in the Palestinian territories.