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JERUSALEM-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sought wide Arab support on Monday for a U.S.-led peace conference by agreeing to release 441 Palestinian prisoners and reaffirming a pledge not to build new Jewish settlements.But Olmert, speaking before a two-hour meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, did not say whether he would agree to U.S. and Palestinian demands to halt all construction in existing settlements in the occupied West Bank.Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, latching on to the uncertainty, described Olmert's comments as "nonsense" unless they included halting new building in established settlements.Nonetheless, both sides said after the two leaders met that negotiators resumed talks on a joint document on how they might resume peace negotiations after next week's meeting in Maryland.In an incident of a sort that has been rare of late, gunmen shot dead an Israeli man in the West Bank near settlements close to Qalqilya, the Israeli army said. It was not clear if the shooting was linked to political developments.A week before the conference in Annapolis, both sides said they would continue efforts to draft a document before the meeting addressing, in general terms, core issues such as borders and the future of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees."Both sides seem ripe for reaching an agreement before Annapolis," Olmert's spokeswoman, Miri Eisin said. "There is enough agreement on enough things that there isn't an atmosphere of crisis, although there are some issues that remain open."Erekat said the leaders exchanged new proposals and agreed negotiating teams would immediately resume work on the document.
As in the days of Noah....
