Rice may "shuttle" on upcoming trip to Middle East

By Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may shuttle between Israelis and Palestinians on an upcoming trip, a U.S. official said on Monday, suggesting the possibility of deeper U.S. engagement on Middle East peace.

Rice plans to travel to the region at the end of the week to hold separate talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and to meet Arab officials in Egypt.

A U.S. official who asked not to be named said Rice may also visit Jordan and then hold more talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials as she looks for a way to bring the two sides, now far apart, a little closer to discussing peace.

The Palestinian unity government approved on Saturday has yet to fully accept the three international conditions -- recognizing Israel, renouncing violence and respecting past peace deals -- needed to end a Western aid embargo.

The creation of the Hamas-led unity government has muddied U.S. peace efforts and Olmert has said he will limit contacts with Abbas, a member of the more moderate Fatah, to matters that affect "the quality of life of the Palestinian people."

He ruled out broader talks on Palestinian statehood with Abbas for now.

"What she wants to do is obviously have the two sides talk directly with one another as much as possible," said the U.S. official who asked not to be named because he was discussing strategy. "In the absence of that, she wants to be able to talk to each of them and then ... almost shuttle back and forth."

Saying the Israelis wish to limit their dealings with Abbas to matters like daily security and the humanitarian needs of the Palestinians, the official said: "Obviously, we have an issue in both sides being able to discuss the big picture."

"You fit your tactics and techniques to the moment," he added, saying Rice, who is making her third trip to the region this year, was likely to go back and forth between the sides. "This is establishing the beginning of a pattern," he said.

The Bush administration has largely shied away from the extensive peace efforts conducted by previous U.S. governments and some analysts remain skeptical it plans to make a sustained push now.

'VIRTUE OF NECESSITY'

While the word "shuttle" evokes the extended back-and-forth travel by former U.S. Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and James Baker to broker agreements between Israelis and Arabs, Rice may have something more modest in mind.

Aaron Miller, a former veteran U.S. Middle East negotiator, said Rice might feel she can narrow the gaps between the two sides on the core issues in the dispute but added "I would strongly doubt that is a possibility right now."

Rather, he said she may be "making a virtue of necessity" given the extreme difficulty of arranging a three-way meeting between herself, Olmert and Abbas.

"This would argue that she wants to change the tactics a little. She wants to create a little buzz, a little excitement, by creating a new dynamic that puts her at the center of this," he added.

Miller said this created the danger of raising expectations that may be impossible to meet given the political weakness of the Olmert government and the divisions among the Palestinians, which make it difficult for either side to reach compromises.

Rice held a three-way meeting in February but the session made little progress on bringing the two sides together.

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