Monday’s meeting between Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas may take place in the West Bank.
The Israeli prime minister and Palestinian Authority president are to hold the latest in an accelerated series of meetings Monday to discuss U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s recent visit to the region, aides said. The leaders may talk in Jericho, which would make it the first Israeli-Palestinian summit in the Palestinian Authority in at least six years.
Though the Palestinian Authority has been weakened by the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, Abbas has showed renewed interest in reaching a settlement with Israel on the status of the West Bank after breaking with the Islamist group. Olmert, his popularity at a low ebb since the Lebanon war, also has indicated he could embrace sweeping peace talks with Abbas that could include discussions of final-status issues such as the borders of a planned Palestinian state.
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