TEHRAN -- U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's unannounced trip to Lebanon and her talks with the leaders of the March 14 group can only mean that the United States is attempting to undermine the Doha agreement.

The Lebanese media described Rice's visit as a trip "for sedition" and said that it was meant to strengthen the March 14 group and weaken the March 8 group.

Reports suggest that the U.S. secretary of state handed new Lebanese President Michel Suleiman the names of five political figures to be given key ministerial posts in the cabinet of Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

And indeed, it does seem that Rice is trying to ensure that pro-U.S. figures are placed in key ministries before the final configuration of the new cabinet is agreed upon.

Moreover, in her meeting with the leaders of the March 14 group, Rice emphasized the necessity of implementing UN Resolution 1701 and disarming Lebanon's Islamic resistance, even though the Doha agreement does not call for disarmament.

Rice's visit to occupied Palestine and Lebanon shows that once again Washington is seeking to increase tension in the region and create a chasm between the political groups in Lebanon and Palestine in order to make up for the fact that it lost face in the region after Israel was defeated in the 33-day war.

The U.S. secretary of state's trip to occupied Palestine came just after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's cabinet announced it would be implementing its decision to build 2100 new Jewish settlements in East Beit-ul-Moqaddas (East Jerusalem) and the West Bank.

The construction of the new settlements is part of the project to Judaize Palestine through gradually expanding Jewish housing units and expelling the Palestinians who live in the territories occupied in 1948.

The project was made public when U.S. President George W. Bush visited occupied Palestine in May on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the Zionist regime and he openly declared his support for the plan at the time.

And now, with Olmert in trouble due to his economic corruption scandal, it is believed that Rice only traveled to the region to show that the U.S. supports the Israeli prime minister's policies.

Rice was clearly trying to convince the Zionist lobby to support Republican candidate John McCain in the U.S. presidential election, and her trip to occupied Palestine was only meant for domestic consumption as part of the campaign process.

In her visit, Rice was ostensibly trying to promote the peace process but offered no solutions to the problem of the besieged Gaza Strip residents and only expressed regret over the continuation of settlement construction.

The U.S. secretary of state's 17th trip to occupied Palestine since 2005 did not benefit the Palestinians at all but only served Olmert's interests since it helped his efforts to reduce the political pressure being imposed on him by his opponents in the Labor, Kadima, and Likud parties.

Rice's trip, which may be her last visit to the region, greatly disappointed Palestinian Authority leaders because it made them feel the United States is not interested in ending the crises in the Middle East and U.S. officials are only concerned about maintaining the Zionist regime's security.

Surely, under such circumstances, the leaders of Hamas and Fatah have realized that Palestinians have no choice but to rely on themselves. And their recent effort to resolve their differences is a sign of this new approach.

If Palestinian leaders stop relying on the West's deceptive proposals and begin utilizing their own potential, their hand will be strengthened at the negotiating table and their national unity will be enhanced, which will help them respond to the Zionist regime's pressure and threats.