MIDDLE EAST:US SECRETARY of state Condoleezza Rice said yesterday the US would monitor Israel's implementation of its promise to ease travel restrictions on Palestinians, after defence minister Ehud Barak told her the government was planning to dismantle 50 roadblocks in the West Bank.
"We will be verifying what it is they are doing and this is all aimed at trying to improve the movement and access of the Palestinian people in the West Bank," said Dr Rice.
She is in the region in an attempt to promote peace talks that were renewed following a US-led summit last November.
Her comments came after she held a joint meeting yesterday with Mr Barak and Palestinian prime minister Salaam Fayyad, during which a series of Israeli measures aimed at easing travel for Palestinians in the West Bank were outlined.
Asked when Israel would begin removing the roadblocks, the secretary of state said she was "expecting it to happen very, very soon".
Mr Barak said Israel would also allow the Palestinian Authority to deploy 700 security officers in the West Bank town of Jenin and restrictions on Palestinian business people and labourers trying to get into Israel would be eased. Israel will also allow the construction of 5,000-8,000 housing units in two new neighbourhoods near Ramallah.
After a series of unfulfilled Israeli promises regarding the easing of travel restrictions, Dr Rice has become increasingly frustrated with Israeli inaction. With the US president, George Bush, scheduled to visit Israel in May to mark the country's 60th anniversary, the administration is anxious to show progress in peace talks that have produced few tangible results since they were renewed.
The 50 roadblocks that Israel has pledged to remove are "dirt mounds" that restrict movement between Palestinian cities. But, citing security concerns, Mr Barak made it clear that none of the major checkpoints would be dismantled.
Israel has set up hundreds of checkpoints and roadblocks across the West Bank with the aim of preventing suicide bombers from entering its cities - a move security officials say has been highly effective.
The Palestinians say the roadblocks strangle economic activity in the West Bank.
For their part, the Palestinians have pledged to improve their efforts to thwart terrorist attacks emanating from the West Bank, officials in Dr Rice's entourage said.