US monitors to observe lifting of Israeli barriers: Rice

SHANNON, Ireland (AFP) - US monitors will observe the lifting of Israeli roadblocks that have paralysed the Palestinian West Bank, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday.

Personnel from the US embassy in Israel would carry out the observer work, Rice told reporters on a plane taking her back to Washington from a tour of the Middle East and London.

"That means our monitors get out around the communities, talk to the people who are trying to get through check-points and really get a sense of how the movement and access is working," she said.

Rice said she met Israel's Defence Minister Ehud Barak four times to try to convince him to take down more of the estimated 500 military roadblocks across the West Bank. Rice added that Israel has not yet done enough to try to improve the daily life of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

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