Details of Olmert-Abbas Meeting Kept Quiet
by Nissan Ratzlav-Katz OCT 6,07 INN
(IsraelNN.com) A meeting between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority head Mahmoud Abbas in Jerusalem on Wednesday led to few official statements. After the meeting, it was announced only that PA and Israeli negotiators will meet in coming weeks to work out a joint position paper for the planned Middle East summit in November. Prime Minister Olmert initially held talks with Abbas in private, after which they were Abbas expressed dissatisfaction with Prime Minister Olmert's refusal to discuss a fixed timeline.joined by their respective negotiating teams.
Reports in the Arab media indicated that Abbas expressed dissatisfaction with Olmert's continued refusal to discuss a fixed timeline for the resolution of final-status issues. According to IDF Radio, Olmert insisted that the PA accept the Israeli and American position that rejects an Arab right of return to Israel and includes Israeli annexation of certain areas in Judea and Samaria. On Thursday, the PA's Minister of Information, Riyad Al-Malki, told reporters that a joint document outlining a framework for final status talks will be drafted before the US-sponsored Middle East summit in November. Al-Malki said a final status agreement could be reached within six months of the summit. This agreement, he added, would be brought before a follow-up meeting of the November summit's participants, as well as before the residents of the PA in the form of a referendum.
A senior PA figure and former PA prime minister, Ahmed Qurei, said it will not be easy for Olmert and Abbas to draft an agenda for final status talks before the summit. Qurei's cautious view was echoed by David Baker, a spokesman for the Israeli government. The issues that would have to be included in any final status accord, and about which there is little agreement, include bilateral borders, the status of Arab refugees in other countries, the status and future of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, and sovereignty in Jerusalem. The Hamas leadership of the PA, for its part, has rejected the idea of the November summit entirely. Spokesmen for the terrorist organization said the main purpose of the bilateral and multilateral meetings that include Israel is to prevent the resolution of what Hamas considers the fundamental issues.
