Olmert urges Abbas to reach peace deal this year

JERUSALEM-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, poised to resign next month in a graft scandal, pressed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday to move urgently towards fulfilling Washington's wish for a peace deal this year.Ahead of talks in Jerusalem on Sunday, Olmert aides said the Israeli leader planned to ask Abbas to draft a joint document of understandings before Olmert's Kadima party holds a leadership vote on September 17 to name his successor.But Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev said after the meeting: "It is not realistic to expect that there's a quick fix or a shortcut. We won't solve the conflict issues on the table in two or three weeks."Olmert appeared to catch Abbas off-guard during a photo opportunity before the talks by stressing the 2008 timeframe for a deal, set at a U.S.-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland last November."We have to complete the Annapolis process this year-this year," Olmert, grasping Abbas in a handshake and using his other hand to gesture to the Palestinian leader, said emphatically in English as they posed for photographers.Such comments have been rarely made on camera during previous meetings between the two men.Abbas, along with some of Olmert's cabinet colleagues, are cool to the idea of drafting a preliminary document to present to Washington. "The time factor is important but we either have an agreement on all issues or no agreement," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters in Ramallah after the meeting. To read more go to:
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSLV11871820080831
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