Olmert, Abbas Hold Talks Before Bush's Visit

By JONATHAN FERZIGER, Bloomberg News
May 6, 2008

Tel Aviv — Prime Minister Olmert of Israel and President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority held "serious" talks to prepare for next week's visit by President Bush, spokesmen for both sides said.

Mr. Abbas arrived at Mr. Olmert's residence in Jerusalem yesterday at about 1 p.m. and the two met together with their negotiating teams before speaking alone, said an Olmert spokesman, Mark Regev.

"The talks are serious, quite possibly the most serious talks an Israeli side has ever had with the Palestinians," Mr. Regev told reporters.

No report on the content of the meeting was released. "The talks were extremely in depth and serious, and I can't go into more details in this respect," one of the senior Palestinian Arab negotiators, Saeb Erekat, told reporters after returning with Mr. Abbas to Ramallah.

The meeting came hours after Secretary of State Rice flew home from a three-day visit to the region in which she urged Israel to make greater efforts to ease economic and living conditions for Palestinian Arabs in the West Bank. It also took place amid speculation that Mr. Olmert may face new corruption charges, which are currently subject to a court- imposed gag order.

Mr. Bush is scheduled to arrive in the region next week to prod the sides toward signing a framework peace agreement by the end of the year. Israel remains committed to that goal, Mr. Regev said.

Mr. Erekat said all the major issues dividing the two sides were discussed, including disputes over Jewish settlements in the West Bank, Palestinian Arab refugees, and the future status of Jerusalem.

"There is a base the Israelis know well, which is nothing is agreed upon until an agreement on all issues is reached," he said.

Mr. Abbas, who met with Mr. Bush at the White House on April 24, said at a press conference with Ms. Rice on Sunday that he believes an agreement can be reached with Israel this year.