KUWAIT  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed concern on Tuesday that former president Jimmy Carter’s recent meeting with Hamas leader Khaled Meshal could confuse American efforts to broker a Palestinian-Israeli peace accord.

“We wanted to make sure there would be no confusion and there would be no sense that Hamas was somehow a party to peace negotiations" between Israel and more moderate Palestinians, said Ms. Rice, speaking on the margins of an international meeting here on aid to Iraq.

Ms. Rice also affirmed that the State Department had explicitly advised Mr. Carter not to meet with Hamas, which the United States considers a terrorist group. Mr. Carter told National Public Radio on Monday that he had not received a clear signal from the Bush administration before leaving on his Middle East tour last week.

“We counseled President Carter against going to the region and particularly against having contacts with Hamas,” Ms. Rice said, responding to questions from reporters.