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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 has begun talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. | |
The meeting in Jericho is the most senior meeting between the two sides in a Palestinian city for some years. | |
The Palestinians say they want to discuss "final status" issues such as borders, refugees and Jerusalem. | |
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. | |
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. | |
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. |