U.S. "Confident" Of Mideast Peace Summit

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday that Israel and the Palestinians were "moving toward an understanding" that a U.S.-sponsored conference can be a forum to restart long-stalled peace talks.

Speaking at a news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Rice also said she was "tremendously impressed by the seriousness" Israeli and Palestinian leaders have shown in moving toward renewed peace talks.

"I'm quite confident that the will is there on both sides that people want to end this conflict," she added.

The Mideast peace conference is expected to take place in late November or early December in Annapolis, Maryland. But no date has been set so far because the two sides are at odds over what sort of joint peace outline they hope to present at the meeting.

The Palestinians want the outline to mention the principle for solving each of the key disputes, such as agreement to divide disputed Jerusalem without deciding now on the details. Israel has been cool to addressing this and other key issues like final borders and a solution for Palestinian refugees from the war that followed Israel's creation in 1948.

The Palestinians also insist on setting a deadline for peace talks, saying that after more than a decade of failed peace-making they need to know when the process will end. Israel rejects firm deadlines, which have been set and ignored in the past.

CBS News correspondent Robert Berger reports that Israel wants a slower approach to the peace process. The Jewish state says that before deadlines are set, the Palestinians must take steps to curb terrorism.

The participation of regional powerhouses like Saudi Arabia that don't have diplomatic ties with Israel is considered vital to the conference's success. But they have been reluctant to endorse the meeting until they have a clear sign that major issues that have derailed talks in the past will be addressed seriously there.

On Monday, Rice said Arab states were giving "very clear signs" they want the Annapolis conference to succeed.

Despite that hopeful message, reports Berger, Rice said Monday that it was still too early to announce invitations to the Annapolis summit.