Israel and the Palestinian Authority plan last-minute talks in Washington on a joint document for the peace conference.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas headed to the United States on Sunday without a joint document to present at the Nov. 27 Annapolis conference, but aides said efforts to find agreement had not been called off.
One Abbas adviser said negotiators planned to meet in Washington later Sunday for a last-ditch bid to settle on a shared set of principles for renewed negotiations on the creation of a peaceful Palestinian state. Should that fail, Olmert and Abbas were expected to read separate statements at Annapolis.
Before his departure, Olmert sounded optimistic about the conference’s prospects.
“I hope Annapolis will lead to the launching of serious negotiations on all the core issues that will result in a solution of two states for two peoples,” Olmert said.
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