(IsraelNN.com) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice defended Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas during testimony before the US Congress on Wednesday. Rice was responding to a question about a statement made by Abbas in which he said he is opposed to armed struggle "because we cannot succeed in it, but maybe in the future things will be different." Abbas later said his remarks were taken out of context.
The Secretary of State said she is "confident that [Abbas] is someone who is committed to the negotiated solution of this issue and recognizes that only a negotiated solution is going to result in a Palestinian State." She excused Abbas's remarks, and explained "We have all had the experience of perhaps saying things that we wish we hadn't said and I can just tell you that this is somebody who for many, many years now has rejected violence as a means to statehood."
Topic: Rice Defends Abbas at US Congress (Read 776 times)