Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat Saturday said that the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would not bring invitations to a U.S.-hosted peace conference in her coming tour to the region later in the day.
"I can't say that the date for holding the conference has been set by the end of this month and I don't think that Rice will bring the official invitations with her," Erekat told Voice of Palestine radio.
Rice, who is now in Turkey's largest city of Istanbul for an international conference on Iraq, will arrive in Israel's Tel Aviv later in the day to start her eighth visit of this year.
She will meet with Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, before her meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday.
Rice's visit aims at laying groundwork for the Mideast peace conference to be held in the United States later this year.
However, disputes and disagreements among the parties concerned, especially the Palestinians and Israelis, set up hurdles for the final schedule of the conference.
Asked about reports that the Israeli-Palestinian talks have reached a dead end, the negotiator refused to comment.
"I can't discuss the details but I can not say there are any Israeli-Palestinian understandings," said Erekat.
Source: Xinhua
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