Israel tells Rice will ease some W. Bank restrictions

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JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel announced plans on Sunday to ease some restrictions on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, responding to calls by visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to take steps to bolster peace talks.

By Arshad Mohammed

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel announced plans on Sunday to ease some restrictions on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, responding to calls by visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to take steps to bolster peace talks.

After a three-way meeting in Jerusalem between Rice, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Israel said it would remove about 50 "dirt roadblocks" and open a "permanent checkpoint" that obstructs the flow of travelers to the town of Jericho.

"I think it's a very good start," said Rice, who shuttled between Israel and Jordan to assess the state of U.S.-backed peace talks before President George W. Bush returns to the region in May.

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Israel has pledged in the past to remove West Bank barriers but failed to do so, Western and Palestinian officials said.

Samir Abdallah, the Palestinian planning minister, said removing dirt mounds did not go far enough, saying major checkpoints, choking the West Bank economy, must be taken down as well. "These are small steps," Abdallah said.

Citing security concerns, Israel has balked at Palestinian demands to dismantle major checkpoints.

Long lines and strict security checks by Israeli soldiers have turned the checkpoints into hated symbols of occupation. Palestinians see them as a barrier to progress in talks that Washington hopes can achieve a statehood deal by year's end.

The Israeli measures also included a promise to allow the construction of 5,000 to 8,000 Palestinian homes near Ramallah, and to let Fayyad deploy up to 700 members of a Palestinian security force in the northern city of Jenin, officials said.

But Barak's office said in a statement that "ultimate security responsibility will remain in Israel's hands" even after Palestinian forces take up their positions.

The State Department said a U.S. general would monitor implementation of the measures.

"I really do think that what we have to do is to have meaningful progress towards a better life for the Palestinian people," Rice told reporters.

She said one reason previous efforts to improve Palestinian movement and access failed was that they were not tethered to a broader political process on creating a Palestinian state.

"It becomes a little bit chicken and egg. There are certain things that people are more willing to contemplate as it really does appear that statehood is possible," she said.

"COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENT"

Israel has hundreds of barriers in the West Bank and says they help stop suicide bombers. Palestinians call the restrictions collective punishment.

"I am expecting it to happen very, very soon," Rice said about roadblock removals.

Rice embarked on her second visit this month, four months after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas launched peace talks with the goal of reaching an agreement by the end of this year.

There has been little visible progress on a deal.

In addition to the dirt roadblocks, Israel said it approved the transfer of 125 vehicles and 25 out of 50 armored personnel carriers for Abbas's forces.

Israel also agreed to allow another 5,000 Palestinian construction workers into the Jewish state, on top of 18,500 who currently have permits, Barak's office said.

An estimated 1,500 special permits will be given to Palestinian businessmen to travel more freely in the West Bank.

Rice flew on Sunday to Jordan to meet Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah. She will later return to Jerusalem.

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qurie are leading the first serious negotiations since talks collapsed amid violence in 2001.

But the push is hampered by internal divisions among the Palestinians. Abbas's Fatah movement holds sway in the West Bank while Hamas, an Islamist group officially committed to Israel's destruction, seized control of the Gaza Strip last year.

(Writing by Jeffrey Heller, Editing by Adam Entous and Sami Aboudi)