Rice Arrives In Israel

For the second time in less than a week, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is back in the Middle East.
She arrived in Israel Saturday for talks with the prime minister. No one is saying if Rice will go to Beirut, but her stop there earlier this week was kept secret until the last minute over security concerns.

Rice is expected to discuss a peace plan for Israel and Lebanon that would bring a UN mandated multinational force to the region.
President Bush again reiterated his support for that in Saturday’s radio address.

While no one is saying publicly what that force might look like, the numbers passed around privately range from 15 to 20,000. Rice already got UN officials to agree to hold a meeting Monday to discuss which countries might send troops.

(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)