Rice, Israeli meet with Abbas

NEW YORK — The United States and Israel sought on Monday to shore up a sometimes strained relationship with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is trying to form a working alliance with Hamas officials who refuse to recognize the Israeli government.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held a private meeting with Abbas without their usual retinue of aides, on the sidelines of the United Nations opening session. Rice's spokesman, Sean McCormack, would not detail U.S. goals for the meeting or say whether Rice carried a warning for Abbas about the consequences of a cozier relationship with Hamas. Her Israeli counterpart, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, was meeting with Abbas separately Monday night.

President Bush is to see the Palestinian leader Wednesday, the same day that the United States and other would-be Mideast peacemakers hold their first session since Israel's summer war with Hezbollah militants in Lebanon. The U.N. Security Council also plans an open meeting Thursday that is intended to revive the Mideast peace process.

Meanwhile, U.S. officials said little about reports of an impending release of an Israeli solider captured by Palestinian militants in June. Release now would give all sides some good news to announce during a round of Mideast meetings in New York this week that had been expected to focus on the continued standoff between Hamas and the West.

Egypt has been trying to broker a deal for the release of Cpl. Gilad Shalit. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan also has pushed for the release of Shalit and two other Israeli soldiers.

"I will simply restate what the United States has stated time and time again," Rice said when asked about a possible release as she began a meeting with Livni. "Those prisoners, both the two in Lebanon and the one in the Palestinian territories, should be released and released unconditionally."

Rice's morning session with Livni was their third meeting in a week. Bush saw the Israeli diplomat in Washington last week. Rice and Livni have said they want to work with Abbas, the only senior Palestinian leader their nations will deal with, but are wary of his attempts to form a unity government with Hamas.

Hamas defeated Abbas' Fatah Party in legislative elections in January, although Abbas retains his position as president.

"We support voices of moderation. Obviously, President Abbas is one," national security adviser Stephen Hadley said Monday. "He's committed to peace, and we have worked with him and would continue to work with him. That's why the president is going to see him."