Abbas to ask Bush to draw up clear-cut agenda for int’l conf – Erekat

By NNN-KUNA

Gaza : Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat has said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will ask US President George W. Bush to draw up a clear-cut agenda for the proposed conference on Middle East peace.


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Abbas, now on a visit to the United States to attend the session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, will hold a number of meetings Monday with Bush, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, and British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, according to Erekat.

In the coming two days, he will also meet foreign ministers of France, Britain, Finland, Portugal and Spain, as well as South African President Thabo Mbeki and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

“During his meeting with Bush, the Palestinian leader will assert the hope of his people that the peace conference would prepare the ground for ending the four-decade old Israeli occupation of Arab territories.

“The Palestinian side seeks to turn Bush’s two-state vision into a reality and establish a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital,” Erekat pointed out.

The Palestinian official hailed the US invitations for Arab parties to attend the autumn conference in Washington. “The invitations meet some of the Palestinian demands,” he pointed out.

“We are interested in the discussions and approach of the conference above all and hope that the conference will deal with all final status issues including the Palestinian refugees, the Jewish settlements, the borders, the status of Jerusalem, and Palestinian statehood,” he added.

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