This is Steve Ember with In the News in VOA Special English.

American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet withIsraeli and Palestinian leaders before those leaders hold talks nextweek. Her trip is part of the Middle East peace efforts thatPresident Bush discussed this week in his State of the Union speech.

Miz Rice is to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon inJerusalem on Sunday. She visits Palestinian Authority PresidentMahmoud Abbas in the West Bank on Monday.

Then, on Tuesday, Mister Abbas and Mister Sharon are to meet inSharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt. It will be the first time Israeli andPalestinian leaders have met in more than four years. EgyptianPresident Hosni Mubarak is holding the talks. King Abdullah ofJordan also is expected to take part.

President Bush announced that he will ask Congress for threehundred fifty million dollars for the Palestinians. He said themoney would go for political, security and other reforms. In hiswords: "The goal of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine,living side by side in peace is within reach – and America will helpthem achieve that goal."

In his speech Wednesday night in Congress, Mister Bush alsocalled for greater freedoms in other parts of the Middle East. Hesaid reform is already taking hold from Morocco to Jordan toBahrain.

He called on Saudi Arabia to give its people more power to decidetheir future. And he spoke of Egypt, another American ally, which hecalled "a great and proud nation." He said, "Egypt, which showed theway toward peace in the Middle East, can now show the way towarddemocracy in the Middle East."

In much stronger language, Mister Bush said that Syria stillpermits its territory and parts of Lebanon to be used by terrorists.And he said Iran remains the world's main state supporter ofterrorism. He said Iran is seeking nuclear weapons while denying itspeople freedom. The president had a message for Iranians. "As youstand for your own liberty," he said, "American stands with you."

In London Friday, reporters asked Secretary Rice if the UnitedStates might ever attack Iran. In her words: "The question is simplynot on the agenda at this point." She said diplomatic steps remain.Miz Rice is on her first trip as top American diplomat. London wasthe first stop among European capitals.

In his State of the Union speech, the president praised the Iraqipeople for voting in elections. He said terrorists are trying todestroy the hope that Iraqis expressed. Millions of people votedSunday for a new Transitional National Assembly.

Leaders of the opposition Democrats in Congress criticized MisterBush for not saying when American troops will leave Iraq.

The president introduced an Iraqi human rights activist whosefather was killed by the Saddam Hussein government. Safia Talebal-Souhail shared an emotional hug with another guest, JanetNorwood, the mother of a United States Marine killed in battle inIraq.

In the News in VOA Special English was written by Jerilyn Watson.I'm Steve Ember.