By Xinhua
Ramallah : The first round of Israeli-Palestinian talks on final status issues ended on Monday afternoon without any announced result, Palestinian sources close to the negotiations said.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurei and his Israeli counterpart Tzipi Levni, who is also Israeli foreign minister, steered the talks on final status issues, including sovereignty of Jerusalem, borders of a future Palestinian state, Jewish settlements and the fate of the Palestinian refugees.
The meeting, which was held in Jerusalem and lasted for about two hours, is the first since last week’s historic visit to the region by U.S. President George W. Bush.
Israeli Radio had earlier reported that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert wants to reach with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas an agreement on the framework of a future independent Palestinian state.
The radio, which quoted Israeli sources close to Olmert as saying that “the implementation of any deal will be contingent to Israel’s view of the Palestinians ability to ensure security.