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'Core issues' on Mid-East agenda 'Core issues' on Mid-East agenda
(about 9 hours later)
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will discuss core issues in the Middle East conflict when they meet on Monday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas says. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators will begin discussions on what are regarded as the core issues in the peace process when they meet on Monday.
He said the talks would tackle such issues as Israeli settlements, borders, refugees and the status of Jerusalem. These include the status of Jerusalem, the borders of a Palestinian state, Jewish settlements in the West Bank, refugees, security and water resources.
The teams will be led by ex-Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. The negotiations will be led by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei.
Mr Abbas and Israeli PM Ehud Olmert agreed to restart peace talks at a peace conference in the US in November. On Sunday, two Palestinian militants died in an Israeli strike in Gaza.
US President George W Bush, who spoke to both Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas during his current tour of the Middle East, said he was "very hopeful" the talks could lead to a peace deal by the end of the year. The vehicle in which the two men were travelling was stuck by a missile fired by the Israeli Air Force as they drove through the Shati refugee camp near Gaza City.
Previous negotiations have broken down over the core issues. The Israeli military said both the men had been involved in attacks on Israel.
But in his speech in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Mr Abbas said: "If we reach an agreement on all these issues, then we can say that we have reached a final agreement." One of the men has been named as Nidal Amudi, who was a senior member of the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group linked to the Fatah movement of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev confirmed that the negotiating teams would meet on Monday, and that they received a mandate to discuss core issues. 'Final agreement'
During a speech in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Sunday, Mr Abbas said the Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams would begin discussion of the core "final stage issues" in the peace process at their meeting on Monday.
If we reach an agreement on all these issues, then we can say that we have reached a final agreement Mahmoud AbbasPalestinian Authority President Bush uses strong languageBush Mid-East tour diary
"If we reach an agreement on all these issues, then we can say that we have reached a final agreement," he said, adding that any peace treaty would have to resolve the disputes over all issues.
Mr Abbas added that both sides would at the same time have to implement the first phase of the "road map" formulated by the Middle East Quartet in 2003, which suggests how a final settlement might be approached, and resolve economic and security issues in the West Bank.
The first phase of the road map requires:
  • Both sides to issue statements supporting the two-state solution
  • The Palestinians to end violence, act against "all those engaged in terror", draw up a constitution and hold elections
  • The Israelis to stop settlement building activities and act with military restraint
A spokesman for the Israeli government, Mark Regev, also confirmed the negotiating teams would meet on Monday, and that they had received a mandate to discuss the core issues.
Hamas offer
Prospects for a comprehensive settlement were given fresh impetus by the peace conference at Annapolis in November, after which Mr Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to restart talks after seven years.
US President George W Bush, who visited Israel and the West Bank last week, has said Israel and the Palestinians could sign a peace treaty within a year.
OBSTACLES TO PEACE History of negotiationsJerusalemWaterRefugeesBorders and settlements
"I believe it's going to happen, that there will be a signed peace treaty by the time I leave office," he told reporters in Ramallah on Thursday.
In his speech, Mr Abbas said he had warned the president that the Palestinians could not move ahead in the negotiations while Jewish settlements continued to be built in the West Bank.
"We can't have negotiations while they are building houses all over," he added.
The Palestinian leader also said he was willing to restart talks with the Islamist movement, Hamas, if it relinquished control of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas ousted Mr Abbas's Fatah movement from the coastal territory in June following a week of violent clashes.
"I am ready to negotiate with Hamas even if the United States does not accept it," he said. "Such a dialogue is very important."
A Hamas statement denounced Mr Abbas's speech as "full of lies and fabrications".