Reporters' doubts concerning the Bush administration's proposed Middle East conference were expressed by a reporter who asked American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, "Is there sort of a train wreck coming in terms of the people’s impression of what this is going to be?" The journalist noted that Saudi Arabia expects "a conference that is going to really tie things up."
Secretary Rice replied, "Well, there’s a lot of work to do, and I don’t doubt that there are, at this point, differing views of what we ought to try and do. But the responsibility is to bring those together.'
However, she added, "Without support of the Arab states in the region, the key Arab states, it’s going to be difficult for the Palestinians and the Israelis to come to a reasonable agreement."