PEACE PLAYERS AGREE TO MEET

Olmert Meets Abbas, Abbas to Meet AssadBy Hillel Fendel(Arutz-7 NEWS)

With preparations underway for an official meeting between them, PM Olmert and PA chief Abbas met this morning at a small breakfast hosted by Jordan's King Abdullah. Fatah-Hamas violence continues. This was the first time since Olmert took office in January that he and Abu Mazen have met. The two agreed to meet two or three weeks from now in Amman, Jordan. At the breakfast were also Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres, Eli Wiesel, and Saeb Erekat of
the PA.

The breakfast was a side event to a two-day gathering of 25 Nobel laureates and some 30 international figures in the ancient city of Petra, Jordan. Petra is located 30 kilometers (18 miles) to the east of Moshav Paran in Israel's Aravah region, 90 kilometers north of Eilat.
Olmert said he wanted to make sure his meeting with Abbas would succeed, and has therefore given instructions for careful preparations to be made beforehand.

Fatah-Hamas at OddsIn the meanwhile, an agreement between Fatah and Hamas, which PA spokesmen have been saying for nearly a week is "almost ready," is still not ready. At issue is the Prisoners' Document, drawn up by terrorist in Israeli jails, which calls for an end to terrorism in pre-1967 Israel and a specific form of cooperation between Fatah and Hamas in running the Palestinian Authority.

It appears that not only is there no agreement on major clauses, but the Hamas branch in Damascus refuses to go along even with the clauses that have been agreed upon. The Damascus branch of Hamas is headed by Khaled Meshal, who is known as even more extremist than Hamas Authority prime minister Muhammed Haniye.

In an effort to reach an agreement, Syrian President Assad, not known as a great friend of Abbas, has invited the PA leader to Syria. Abbas will probably make the trip in the coming week.Though violence between Hamas and Fatah has subsided somewhat from the levels of earlier this month, two major incidents have been recorded since last night. A number of grenades were thrown today at the house of Haled Abu Hilal in Gaza, causing no casualties.

Abu Hilal was originally a Fatah man, and now serves as a spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Interior Ministry. Last night, a car bomb exploded near the headquarters of the PA Preventive Security Service in Gaza City, injuring an aide to Fatah strongman Muhammed Dahlan, as well as Dahlan's aunt.