Abbas to Rice: US must pressure Israel

The gaps between the two sides in the peace negotiations are still wide, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Washington on Wednesday.

A senior Palestinian official said Abbas told Rice that the administration needs to put more pressure on Israel to stop expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

En route to Washington, Abbas had said that Israel and the PA were in constant contact with each other regarding reaching a peace agreement and that the two sides were dealing extensively with the issue of Palestinian refugees.

Golan belongs to the Jewish people'

Heads of Israeli towns in the Golan Heights convened Thursday for an emergency meeting following reports in recent days that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had agreed to relinquish the Golan Heights to Syria.

"The heads of Golan communities emphasize that the Golan belongs to the Jewish people, who will never agree to relinquish it," the Committee of Golan Heights Community Heads announced in a statement.

They also decided that construction and development of the Golan would continue, "out of certainty that any attempt to damage Israeli sovereignty in the Golan constitutes a grievous threat to national security and is destined to fail."

Evidence on Syrian Nuke Project Today

U.S. thinks N.Korea aided Syria on plutonium program

Information on Syrian nuke reactor to be revealed 'soon'

'Syria must cut ties with terror'

N. Koreans Were Taped At Secret Syrian Reactor

A video taken inside a secret Syrian facility last summer convinced the Israeli government and the Bush administration that North Korea was helping to construct a reactor similar to one that produces plutonium for North Korea's nuclear arsenal, according to senior U.S. officials who said it would be shared with lawmakers today. The officials said the video of the remote site, code-named Al Kibar by the Syrians, shows North Koreans inside. It played a pivotal role in Israel's decision to bomb the facility late at night last Sept. 6...

Bush meets with Palestinian leader as White House acknowledges Mideast talks have stalled

WASHINGTON (Associated Press) -- President Bush says he remains confident that both sides in the Mideast peace process can agree on the definition of a Palestinian state by the end of his term.
Speaking in the Oval Office with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Bush said he assured Abbas that "the Palestinian state is a high priority for me and my administration."
The president added, "I'm confident we can achieve the definition of a state."