In the Occupied Territories, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has declared talks over a Palestinian unity government with Hamas have reached a dead end. He spoke after a meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas: “We discussed with Ms. Rice our difficult dialogue to have a unity government. As we know, a unity government is one of the main and important aims for us. If we will have a unity government, it will end the siege on the Palestinian people. We tried and worked hard, but unfortunately we are at a dead end.”

Abbas is now faced with the choice of firing the Hamas-led government or staging a referendum on whether to hold early elections. The collapse of talks comes after Abbas failed to persuade the Bush administration to end the international aid freeze on the Palestinian government. On Thursday, Rice said the U.S. stance is unchanged.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice: “Unfortunately, because there is not a government with which the international community can deal, it is very difficult to do more, past the humanitarian side. And we do believe that were there a government that accepted international standards, that have been a part of the record, by the way, for a very long time — these are agreements Palestinians themselves have signed onto, like the Road Map — it would be possible, of course, for the international community to do more, if the international principles were respected.”