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Olmert meets Abbas on eve of vote | Olmert meets Abbas on eve of vote |
(1 day later) | |
Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has met Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas for peace talks, a day before Mr Olmert's party is due to replace him as leader. | |
The US government wants to see a full peace deal reached before President George W Bush leaves office in January. | |
A spokesman for Mr Olmert described the discussions as "serious" and said the two leaders would meet again soon. | |
Mr Olmert, who denies corruption claims, says he will step down after his Kadima party chooses his successor. | |
The party votes on Wednesday and the front-runners to succeed him are Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz. | |
But Mr Olmert may stay on as caretaker prime minister until a new coalition government is formed, which could take weeks or even months. | |
'Work needed' | |
Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas have been meeting regularly since new dialogue was launched at a peace conference in the US in November 2007. | |
Core issues up for discussion are the status of Jerusalem, the borders of a Palestinian state, settlements in the West Bank, refugees, security and water resources. | |
But there has been little visible progress and it is widely accepted by Israelis and Palestinians that an agreement by January is increasingly unlikely. | |
Mark Regev, spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, did not disclose details of the discussions. | |
But he said they would continue as long as Mr Olmert "remains prime minister of Israel, and he does so until a new government is sworn in". | |
"We have come a long way but more work needs to be done," he added. | |
The two men will meet again once Mr Abbas returns from the opening ceremony of the annual UN General Assembly, where he is scheduled to meet Mr Bush. |
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