US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (L) with Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas during a meeting at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah. Abbas rejected any temporary solution to the Middle East conflict, as Rice continued a US push for regional peace with a stopoff in neighbouring Jordan. [Photo: AFP]

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Sunday expressed his rejection to the notion of a Palestinian statehood with temporary borders with Israel during his meeting with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"We don't see the temporary borders as a realistic choice to rely on," Abbas stressed again at a joint news conference with Rice in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"We want all international and regional sides to move constantly to end the conflict and its subsequent results," the Palestinian President continued, adding that the stalled Middle East peace process took the biggest part of his talks with Rice.

Abbas, meanwhile, urged Israel to stop expanding Israeli settlement in the West Bank, release prisoners and halt all military actions in the Palestinian territories in order to "give a true chance for political process."

He also called for suitable atmosphere for meaningful peace talks which would lead to end the Israeli occupation that started in 1967.

"This comes in accordance with the roadmap and the work to materialize President George W. Bush's vision of establishing an independent, viable and geographically-linked Palestinian statehood with Jerusalem as a capital and lives in peace alongside Israel," he added.

As for the ceasefire in Gaza reached last year between Israel and the Palestinians, Abbas called on the Palestinians to maintain it while demanding the expansion of the truce deal to the West Bank.

Abbas and Rice also discussed current efforts to form a national unity government capable of lifting the U.S.-led sanctions on the Hamas government.

Abbas, who leads the Fatah movement, has warned that he would go ahead with early elections if the factions failed again to form the coalition government.

A local daily reported on Sunday that progress had been made between factions, mainly the governing Hamas and rival Fatah, on the unity government talks though an agreement had yet to be reached.

At the end of his speech, Abbas praised Egypt for its diplomatic mediation to secure a prisoner swap between Israel and the Palestinians which involves an Israeli soldier and the Palestinian prisoners jailed in Israel.

For her part, Rice affirmed that the United States was completely sticking to the roadmap peace plan to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by a two-state solution, but she did not address the idea of a provisional state.

"My work is going to be best targeted, I think, in next months on trying to accelerate progress on the roadmap, which after all would lead us then to a Palestinian state," Rice said.

She also reasserted the U.S. support for the moderate President Abbas.

Ahead of the visit, the governing Hamas movement slammed Rice for the tour, saying she comes to fuel the tension. And Rice also said that she would not meet any official from the Hamas-led government.

After the news conference, Rice left the West Bank and returned to Israel, where she will meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.