Palestinians urge Israel to discuss final status

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cautioned on Monday that much had yet to be decided about holding a conference the United States hopes may relaunch Middle East peace talks in the coming months.

In remarks broadcast on Palestine Television on the eve of his latest meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Abbas said the U.S. secretary of state had also been unable to tell him by telephone on Monday when the meeting would take place, who would attend and what the agenda would be.

"There are no answers to these questions," he said. "I spoke with Dr. Condoleezza Rice today and she has no answers either."

He added that the conference called by President George W. Bush would be a "waste of time" if it stuck to a "declaration of principles" -- a phrase used by some Israeli officials to describe what Olmert might offer in answer to demands for a rapid, final negotiation to establish a Palestinian state.

Abbas said "nobody is answering" three key questions on the planned conference, adding that he was unsure if talk of it taking place on November 15 was a "rumor" or whether Israel's Arab neighbors would attend, as he believed they should.

"The third question has to do with the content of the meeting: some are talking about a declaration of principles. We say we will not come back again to a declaration of principles because it is pointless and a waste of time," he said.

Abbas said that at Tuesday's meeting with Olmert in Jerusalem, the latest in a series relaunched after Abbas dismissed a Hamas-led government following the Islamists' seizure of the Gaza Strip in June, would again address ways of easing the effects of Israeli occupation of the West Bank.

GESTURES

Israel, encouraged by Washington, has made gestures of support for Abbas and his secular Fatah movement, dominant in the larger West Bank, since Hamas, which is shunned by the West, routed Fatah forces in Gaza more than two months ago.

Economic measures, freedom of movement and Palestinian prisoners would again be on the agenda, Abbas said, adding that he hoped the situation of 54,000 Palestinians who did not have identity papers would also be addressed.

An aide to Abbas told Reuters that Palestinians had so far been disappointed by Israel. Israeli leaders have said they can not ease security restrictions as much as Palestinians would like because of their fear of renewed attacks on Israel.

The Abbas aide, Nimer Hammad, said failure to make further progress could jeopardize the prospects of success for the U.S.-sponsored conference: "How can the Americans keep talking about optimism for the autumn conference in Washington without us and the Israelis achieving results?" he said.

Israeli government spokesman David Baker said the two leaders would try to reach "understandings in advance of the international meeting" and a "political horizon and ways of reaching a two-state solution."

Israeli and Palestinian officials emerged from an August 6 summit in the West Bank city of Jericho with differing explanations on whether "fundamental" issues to be discussed soon should include those referred to as "final status" matters of borders and the future of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.

(Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah and Avida Landau, Alastair Macdonald and Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem)

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