The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Cairo

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Egypt on Tuesday at the start of a regional tour with hopes for an Israeli Palestinian peace deal hit hard by an escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip. Rice was due to meet Egyptian officials including President Hosni Mubarak, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit and intelligence supremo Omar Suleiman, who on Monday cancelled a trip to Israel in protest at Israel's Gaza offensive. Rice stressed her confidence in the chances of success for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process launched in November at Annapolis, blaming Hamas for the recent burst of violence in the Middle East. "I continue to believe that they can get to a deal by the end of the year," Rice said in the plane taking her to Cairo. "The Annapolis process is hardly underway. We are three months in." The secretary of state refrained for criticizing Israel over its Operation Hot Winter which claimed dozens of Palestinian lives in the space of two days in the Gaza Strip, including women and children, noting that the onslaught was in self defence.