Chief Palestinian negotiator Sa' eb Erekat on Friday ruled out the possibility of holding talks between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

In press statements, Erekat said that during Rice's imminent tour of the Middle East region, her agenda would not include talks on setting up a Palestinian state.

He, however, noted that there are contacts going on between the Palestinian and Israeli sides.

Meetings within the framework of the two sides' sub-committees will be resumed soon, Erekat added.

Rice was due to start her Middle East tour on Friday, which will take her to Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, plus a stopover in Kuwait.

Earlier, Israel Radio quoted political sources as saying that while in Israel, Rice will meet with premier Olmert and is expected to go to the West Bank city Ramallah to meet with Abbas, which aims at pushing forward the stalled peace process.

During her stopover in Kuwait, Rice is expected to meet with foreign ministers from six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states plus Egypt and Jordan on Iraq, according to the official Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

Source: Xinhua