U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice wrapped up a three-day trip to the Middle East saying peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians are moving forward, but Israel needs to stop its settlement activities.
美国国务卿赖斯结束了她对中东地区为期3天的访问。赖斯表示，以色列和巴勒斯坦之间的和平谈判取得了进展，但是以色列需要停止建造定居点的活动。
Condoleezza Rice ended three days of talks with Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders saying Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are on track to produce a peace deal by the end of the year. Rice spoke at a news conference in Amman, Jordan with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
美国国务卿赖斯结束了与以色列、巴勒斯坦和约旦领导人举行的为期3天的会谈。她说，巴以谈判正在正常地进行，双方力图在今年年底以前达成和平协议。赖斯和巴勒斯坦民族权力机构主席阿巴斯在约旦首都安曼举行的一个新闻发布会上发表了讲话。
"I know that your teams have a lot of hard work ahead of them, but I have to say that I find very impressive the work that is being done and the seriousness of the process, and I think it is all moving in the right direction," she said.
赖斯说：“我了解你们的谈判人员有许多艰巨的工作要做，但是我必须承认，你们已经完成的工作以及对谈判的认真态度给我留下了深刻的印象。我认为谈判正朝着正确的方向发展。”
In one of her strongest comments on the issue, Rice also called for Israel to stop building settlements on land it seized in the 1967 Arab-Israeli War.
赖斯在对此事发表的态度强硬的评论中，还呼吁以色列停止在1967年阿以战争中获取的土地上修建定居点。
"As to settlement activity, we continue to state America's position that settlement activity should stop - that its expansion should stop," said Rice.
赖斯说：“关于修建定居点的活动，我们继续申明美国的立场，那就是应当停止修建定居点的活动，应当停止这种扩张行为。”
In his remarks, Mr. Abbas said he also fully expects to reach a peace agreement with Israel by the end of this year.
阿巴斯在讲话中说，他也完全期待和以色列在今年年底之前达成一项和平协议。
Mr. Abbas says he is optimistic about reaching a deal because of what he says is the personal involvement of President Bush in the process, and because Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are working extremely hard to deal with the core issues of the conflict. Mr. Abbas says he will meet with Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on April 7.
阿巴斯说，他对达成一项和平协议感到乐观。他说，这是因为布什总统亲自介入谈判进程，而且以色列和巴勒斯坦的谈判人员非常努力地解决冲突的核心问题。阿巴斯说，他将于4月7日会晤以色列总理奥尔默特。
Earlier, Secretary Rice met with Israeli leaders and with the heads of the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem municipality unveiled plans to build 600 new homes in a West Bank settlement on the outskirts of the city.
早些时候，赖斯国务卿在耶路撒冷会晤了以色列领导人以及以色列和巴勒斯坦的谈判小组。耶路撒冷市政当局公布了在耶路撒冷郊区一个约旦河西岸的定居点建造600个新住宅的计划。
A key coalition partner in the government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the religious Shas Party, also announced it had received approval from Mr. Olmert to build an additional 800 homes in an East Jerusalem neighborhood.
奥尔默特政府的一个主要合作夥伴、宗教倾向强烈的沙斯党也宣布，他们得到了奥尔默特总理的批准，在东耶路撒冷社区再修建800所新住宅。
Following his talks with Secretary Rice, Mr. Olmert said that Israel will continue to build in East Jerusalem neighborhoods it intends to keep in an eventual peace deal with the Palestinians.
奥尔默特在结束和赖斯的会谈之后说，以色列将继续在东耶路撒冷社区修建新住宅，以色列打算把这部分内容保留在最终的巴以和平协议中。
"The settlement issue is one of the core issues that are being negotiated as we speak here. This is one of the core issues to the conflict that is being negotiated. I would say the following; this government has done more than any previous Israeli government to bring under control settlement construction in the West Bank," said Mark Regev, Mr. Olmert's spokesman.
奥尔默特的发言人雷格夫说：“修建定居点的问题是我们正在谈判的核心问题之一。这也是我们正在协商解决的冲突的核心问题之一。我要说的是，为了控制在约旦河西岸修建定居点，这届政府比以往的历届以色列政府做的工作都要多。”
A report from the Israeli activist group Peace Now says Israel has approved the construction of 1,700 new homes in the West Bank since last November's Annapolis, Maryland Mideast Peace conference.
以色列一个活跃的组织现在就取得和平发表的报告说，自去年11月在美国马里兰州的安纳波利斯举行中东和平会议以来，以色列已经批准在约旦河西岸修建1700所新住宅。
Meanwhile, Israeli military authorities dismantled a key checkpoint that restricted access to the West Bank city of Jericho.
与此同时，以色列军方拆除了限制进入约旦河西岸城市杰里科的一个主要检查站。
On Sunday Israeli authorities pledged to take down about 50 roadblocks in the West Bank and ease restrictions for some Palestinians who need to pass through Israeli-controlled territory. In return Palestinians agreed to boost security measures to control militancy in the West Bank. |