Rice extends UN visit amid Gaza truce debate

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration said Wednesday there is an urgent need to secure a lasting cease-fire that will end ongoing violence in Gaza. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice extended a visit to New York to participate in talks at the United Nations on an Egyptian-French proposal for a truce.

"We need urgently to conclude some sort of a cease-fire agreement that would be lasting, that would endure," White House press secretary Dana Perino told reporters. "What we are seeking is a cease-fire that would actually last. I think the worst thing that we could have is to have this vicious cycle continue."

She would not say if the United States could support the Egyptian-French plan, details of which remain unclear. Rice said Tuesday that Washington was "pleased by" the initiative and Perino said the U.S., along with Israel, is seeking more specifics on its contents.

Rice had been due to return to Washington on Wednesday afternoon but delayed her departure until the evening for newly scheduled discussions with Arab and European officials, including the Egyptian and French foreign ministers as well as U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Israel and the Palestinian Authority have accepted the plan that he worked out with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. But he did not mention Hamas, the militant Palestinian group that controls Gaza and is embroiled in the fighting with Israel.

Israel has stopped short of endorsing the plan and said only through a spokesman that it "welcomes" the proposal and would accept it only if it halts "hostile fire" from Gaza and includes measures to prevent Hamas from rearming.