Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is very likely to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert next week following a brief suspension of peace talks, Palestinian sources told Xinhua on Monday.
"President Abbas will resume contacts with the Israeli side in the middle of next week, probably on Monday, and will meet with Premier Olmert in Jerusalem," sources at Abbas' office said on condition of anonymity.
Reaching a full and mutual ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and West Bank and stopping the Israeli military operation will be the core of next week's Abbas-Olmert discussions, the sources said.
Abbas halted peace talks with Israel earlier this month following a deadly Israeli army operation in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, which killed more than 125 Palestinians and injured hundreds of others.
The sources said that Abbas faced heavy pressure from the United States, especially from U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to resume the contacts with Israel.
Earlier on Sunday, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat expressed expectation that the talks could be resumed on the coming Thursday as Israeli and Palestinian negotiation teams will hold a joint meeting with a U.S. envoy who follows up the two sides' commitments to the roadmap peace plan.
Peace talk between Israel and the Palestinian Authority led by Abbas was relaunched after an international conference hosted by the U.S. last November in Annapolis, Maryland.
U.S. President George W. Bush then expressed his hope that the two sides would reach a peace deal by the end of 2008.
At the Annapolis conference, both the Palestinian and Israeli sides had vowed to implement the U.S.-brokered roadmap plan.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article