Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will visit Saudi Arabia Wednesday to hold talks with King Abdullah over his recent visits to Russia and the United States, sources at Abbas' office said on Tuesday.
Last week, Abbas discussed with U.S. President George W. Bush Washington's efforts to push forward the Mideast peace negotiations renewed between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) following a U.S.-hosted conference at Annapolis in November.
As the peace process still marks time, Abbas seeks to "crystallize a united Arab stance between the PNA, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan after the U.S. administration retreated from building pressure on the Israeli government to make progress," the sources said.
Abbas' tour is also aimed at signaling Arab warnings to the U.S. administration that "the region will plunge into a circle of violence and the extremists will be boosted if the U.S. failed to pressurize Israel in ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
The ongoing Israeli military escalation and the settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem block the progress of the peace negotiations.
To help push the peace process, Egypt is leading the effort to broker a ceasefire between Israel and armed Palestinian groups, led by Hamas, in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.
In May, Bush will visit Israel to participate in the 60th anniversary of the creation of the Jewish state. He would also make a stopover in Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the White House said.
Source:Xinhua
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