By NNN-KUNA
Washington : The White House has confirmed that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet with US President George W. Bush next month in the Oval Office.
“It is part of the continuing efforts of President Bush and this administration to work with both the Palestinians and the Israelis, as well as other countries in the region, in realising a Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel,” said the White House National Security spokesperson Gordon Johndroe.
Abbas is expected to arrive sometime in the end of April or first week of May.
Johndroe described the meeting as “a continuation of the discussions that the president has engaged in” since the Annapolis conference on Nov 27, 2007 and asserted that both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas still desire a peace deal before the end of the year.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will leave Friday for the region to meet with Abbas and Olmert in addition to a stop in Amman for talks with Jordanian King Abdullah before joining Bush at the NATO summit.
Vice President Dick Cheney was also in Israel and the Palestinian territories in an effort to boost the negotiations between the two parties suspended since March 2.
Johndroe affirmed that Bush still plans to travel again to the region in May in spite of the lack of progress on the peace track.
“The president looks forward to returning to the region in May to, one, celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel, as well as have discussions with other regional leaders,” he said. But Johndroe did not confirm if Bush will have a stop in the Palestinian territories during his upcoming trip.