By Sue PlemingTue Jan 9, 3:43 PM ET
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice leaves for the Middle East and Europe on Friday in another U.S. drive to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts and seek Arab help to stabilize Iraq.
But State Department officials on Tuesday sought to lower expectations of any major breakthroughs on the trip, which will include stops in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Germany and Britain.
"I would expect that this is a trip that is more about laying the foundations for potential future actions than actually coming to closure on any particular agreements," McCormack said.
Rice, who is due back in Washington on January 19, also plans to travel to Paris later this month for an international donors conference on Lebanon, said McCormack. Beirut hopes it will raise $4 billion to help its economy recover from a devastating war with Israel last year.
Officials aid Rice would focus on three issues during this week's trip -- making progress on Israeli-Palestinian peace, promoting stability in Lebanon and finding ways to help the Iraqi government achieve more stability.
The visit comes just after President George W. Bush's planned announcement of his new strategy to tackle the nearly four-year conflict in Iraq.
NEW IRAQ STRATEGY
In his speech on Wednesday, Bush is expected to announce plans to send about 20,000 more troops to Iraq, seeking to salvage the U.S. mission in the unpopular war despite opposition from Democrats who say it will worsen the situation.
Bush's new plan is also expected to include setting "benchmarks" for the Iraqi government to meet, aimed at easing sectarian violence and stabilizing the country.
During her stopover in Kuwait, Rice is expected to meet ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council plus Egypt and Jordan to discuss Iraq, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as well as Iran and Syria.
"It's no secret that we have encouraged states in the region, whether it's Egypt or Saudi Arabia or the other Gulf states, to offer their support to the government of Iraq," said McCormack.
Middle East analysts are skeptical of any real progress on the Israeli-Palestinian issue until the standoff between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and the Hamas-led government of Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh is resolved.
Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met on December 23 and agreed to try to revive peace negotiations that collapsed in 2000. Hamas, in contrast, has refused to recognize Israel's right to exist, to respect past peace deals or to renounce violence -- three conditions for ending a Western aid boycott.
Washington wants Israel and the Palestinians to return to the U.S.-sponsored "roadmap" peace plan. The United States also plans to provide more funding to boost Abbas' security forces.
Rice was last in the region early December when she said after meeting Abbas and Olmert separately that she saw a "little opening" for reviving talks.
McCormack said the United States still believed that an opening existed and Rice would focus on how to exploit that and to "help the forces of moderation" in the region.