Word: rice
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...odds on achieving a deal fluctuated all day, Rice's stubborn side kicked into high gear. "I'm not going to leave here until we get an agreement," she told an aide. She decided to delay her departure for Asia and return to Jerusalem after paying a condolence call on Jordan's King Abdullah in response to the Amman terror attacks...
...Rice was, says a State Department negotiator, ?totally relentless.? She deployed her full arsenal of pesuasive techniques alternating between charm, relentless badgering and the intimidating suggestion that the most trusted advisor of the most powerful leader in the world was not going to leave town until she got what she came for. "When she focuses on something," says a U.S. official present, "she will use whatever it takes...
...draft "agreement on movement and access." A top-level Israeli team arrived at her hotel about 1 a.m., producing a round of "elevator diplomacy" between Israeli and Palestinian delegations ensconced on different floors of the hotel. While she waited for one group to go and the next to arrive, Rice, full of nervous energy, paced the hall, popping in on junior staffers as they typed or proof-read. ?Condi never got tired, never lost her edge or here sense of humor,? says a State Department negotiator. By 4:30 am the parties had agreed in principle. Rice allowed herself...
...Condi Rice put her reputation on the line for this mission and, for the moment, it appears to have paid off. ?That we could get this done opens an international passage for the Palestinians, the first time since 1967,? says a State Department official. ?For 38 years, Israel has controlled entry and egress for every Palestinian in the territories. And now they get to do it themselves, approximately 60 days after the Israelis departed Gaza...
...Rice's all-nighter demonstrated the extent of hands-on diplomatic effort required to get the two parties to achieve what she conceded was just one step toward the goal of establishing a Palestinian state that can live in harmony with its Israeli neighbor. Once the drama of its 13th-hour surprise ending fades, the episode may be a sobering reminder of how long and arduous the journey remains-and of how much more may be required of the Bush administration and its successors if progress is to be sustained...