By Xinhua
Ramallah : Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet US President George W. Bush next week in New York ahead of the UN General Assembly meetings, Palestinian chief negotiator has said.
Saeb Erekat Saturday said the meeting with the US president “is very important” for it is “a direct preparation for reaching a substance” before the November peace conference Bush proposed to help in reviving the deadlocked Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, appointed by Abbas after firing the Hamas-led unity government, will join Abbas in the meeting with Bush.
Bush called for the conference after Hamas violently took control of the Gaza Strip from forces loyal to Abbas and his Fatah movement.
Erekat said that all the Mideast players, including Syria and Lebanon, should be part of the conference in order to agree on “implementing the Arab peace initiative and the Israeli withdrawal from the territories occupied in 1967.”
“After that, we expect the international conference will inaugurate the final status negotiations,” Erekat added, referring to the issues of Jerusalem, the borders and the Palestinian refugees.
Meanwhile, aides of Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert were in contact to arrange a meeting between the two leaders ahead of their trips to New York, Erekat said.
Abbas and Olmert have met almost regularly in recent months in a bid to come up with something substantial to the November conference.