Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met on Monday in an effort to bridge gaping differences ahead of a US-called peace conference later this year. The two leaders met in the casino of an upscale hotel in the West Bank town of Jericho, trying to find some common ground ahead of the conference called by US President George W. Bush.
It was the first time in years that such a high-level meeting was taking place in Palestinian territory, and security was extremely tight.
Swarms of Israeli security personnel were deployed around the hotel complex, blocking it off by a radius of one kilometre. According to AFP, employees were told to stay at home and the meeting was closed to both Israeli and Palestinian media.
Olmert told Abbas he hoped talks on creating a Palestinian state could begin soon. "I came here in order to discuss with you the fundamental issues outstanding between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, hoping that this will lead us soon into negotiations about the creation of a Palestinian state," Olmert said at the outset of talks in Jericho.
Despite these comments, expectations of progress were low, as the two sides cannot agree on how to proceed ahead of the conference that Washington had called. "We don't really have a lot of expectations for this meeting," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said ahead of the encounter.
Abbas' senior aide Nabil Amr said the Palestinian president will "focus on political issues and final negotiations," adding that "both sides... must decide on a resolution for the final issues."
But Israeli government spokesman David Baker said "there will be no negotiations on issues" and that the meeting's aim was "to build confidence among both leaders... to maintain the relationship and build upon it."
