[originaltext] The US State Department says Secretary of State Condoleezza Ric

The US State Department says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit the Middle East and Africa in an overseas trip beginning July 16th. She will meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders and attend a trade conference in the Ghanaian capital, Accra. Rice’s trip to the Middle East will be her fifth to the region this year, but her first since the militant Islam-ic group Hamas muted forces of the mainstream Fatah movement last month and seized control of the Gaza strip. The victory of Hamas, which the United States lists as a terrorist organization, dealt a blow to efforts by the Bush administration to shore up the position of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah, who unlike Hamas recognizes Israel and supports a two-state settlement of the Middle East conflict. An official here said Rice will meet Mr. Abbas in Ramallah, and israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem, at the start of the five-day overseas trip that begins July 16th. There have been press reports that Rice may also at-tend a meeting in Egypt of the Middle East Quartet, a grouping that includes the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations and which has been trying to promote a settlement based on its 2003 "road map" for peace.