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W Bank talks for Abbas and Olmert W Bank talks for Abbas and Olmert
(about 4 hours later)
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jericho in the West Bank. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has begun talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.
It will be the highest level meeting between the two sides in a Palestinian city for some years. The meeting in Jericho is the most senior meeting between the two sides in a Palestinian city for some years.
Palestinian officials say they want to discuss "final status" issues of a Palestinian state such as borders, refugees and the status of Jerusalem. The Palestinians say they want to discuss "final status" issues such as borders, refugees and Jerusalem.
The Israelis say they want to focus more on broad principles ahead of a US-sponsored conference in November. But the Israelis have said they do not want to discuss core issues, only broad principles ahead of a US-sponsored peace conference in November.
Co-operation between the Israelis and the Fatah administration of Mr Abbas, centred on the West Bank, has improved since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June. Under heavy security, the two leaders met at a resort hotel in the city just a few hundred metres (yards) from a permanent Israeli army checkpoint. Mr Olmert arrived by motorcade, escorted by two helicopters.
Good will
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said before the talks that his side wished to sketch the outlines of a final peace deal and was looking to "establish the parameters" for resolving the core issues.
Palestinians want fewer Israeli checkpoints on the West Bank
"Once the parameters are established, then it can be deferred to experts [for drafting]," he added.
One of the specific issues the Palestinians want to discuss is the reduction of military checkpoints in the West Bank.
However, David Baker, an official in Mr Olmert's office, said the core issues would not be discussed.
Describing the meeting as a gesture of good will, he said it would be restricted to humanitarian aid for the Palestinians, Israeli security concerns and the institutions of a future Palestinian state.
Mr Olmert, he added, intended "for this to be a productive meeting to enable progress with the Palestinians".
A dramatic breakthrough does not seem to be imminent at these talks, says the BBC's Tim Franks in Jerusalem.
There is immense caution and suspicion on both sides and neither leader appears to be in a strong position, he adds.
Drawing closer
Nonetheless, co-operation between the Israelis and the Fatah administration of Mr Abbas, centred on the West Bank, has improved since Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip in June.
The takeover has left the Palestinian territories split between the two rival factions.The takeover has left the Palestinian territories split between the two rival factions.
Israel has been trying to bolster Mr Abbas's position, freeing some Palestinian prisoners and releasing frozen Palestinian tax revenues.Israel has been trying to bolster Mr Abbas's position, freeing some Palestinian prisoners and releasing frozen Palestinian tax revenues.
Several hundred gunmen of the Fatah-linked al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades have taken advantage of an Israeli offer of amnesty and have handed in their weapons to Palestinian authorities and renounced violence, Associated Press news agency said. Several hundred gunmen of the Fatah-linked al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades have taken advantage of an Israeli offer of amnesty and have handed in their weapons to Palestinian authorities and renounced violence.
Checkpoints issue
While both sides agree that Monday's talks will centre on a future Palestinian state, the Palestinians are much more specific that they want agreement on the "final status" issues.
These are the borders of a future Palestinian state, the status of Jerusalem as its capital and the fate of Palestinian refugees.
Palestinians want fewer Israeli checkpoints on the West BankIsraeli foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev was more cautious about the agenda, saying agreement on broad principles was more important.
"If you discuss the details, you expose the differences, while the idea is to discuss the principles which we can all agree on," he told the French news agency AFP.
"Israel has accepted that there will be a viable, contiguous Palestinian state," he said.
The Palestinians also want to push the Israelis on smaller measures such as reducing military checkpoints in the West Bank, Palestinian officials said.
The discussions are meant to prepare the way for a Middle East conference that US President George W Bush has called for later in the year.
A dramatic breakthrough does not seem to be imminent, says the BBC's Tim Franks in Jerusalem.
There is immense caution and suspicion on both sides and neither leader appears to be in a strong position, says our correspondent.
Mr Olmert's popularity has plummeted since an inconclusive war in Lebanon last year that was intended to smash Hezbollah militants.Mr Olmert's popularity has plummeted since an inconclusive war in Lebanon last year that was intended to smash Hezbollah militants.
And it is not clear whether Mr Abbas can bring Hamas, which refuses to recognise the Israeli state, in on any deal.And it is not clear whether Mr Abbas can bring Hamas, which refuses to recognise the Israeli state, in on any deal.