Olmert to Meet Abbas in Jerusalem

[DoYouEverWonder]

December 23, 2006

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Saturday at the Israeli leader's residence in Jerusalem, Olmert's office and a senior aide to Abbas said.

The meeting would mark the first between the leaders since Olmert assumed power in January after then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke. Officials had worked for months to push for a meeting on long-stalled peace negotiations.

Abbas had said on Thursday he hoped to meet Olmert before the end of the year.

``The meeting will take place tonight at 8 o'clock (18:00 GMT) in Olmert's house in Jerusalem,'' Saeb Erekat, a senior aide to Abbas, told Reuters.

A statement from Olmert's office said the two leaders would meet in Jerusalem on Saturday, without giving details. Spokesmen in Olmert's office had no immediate comment.

http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-israel-palestinians.html?hp&ex=1166936400&en=82fd5ae136aaec15&ei=5094&partner=homepage


I sincerely hope this is just the beginning. The only way we can stop the violence is for people to start talking to each other. Best wishes to Olmert and Abbas.

[Vidar]

1. It's a step in the right direction.

[DoYouEverWonder]

2. So far so good

Israel releases Palestinian cash

24 December 2006




The Israeli cabinet has approved the release of $100m (£51m) in frozen Palestinian funds.

The move was agreed at the first meeting between Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel has withheld $600m in tax revenues from the PA since Hamas formed a government earlier this year.

It says it will hand over the funds for humanitarian purposes if a mechanism can be found to bypass Hamas.

The two leaders also agreed to establish or re-establish three joint committees - a security committee to discuss the expansion of the current shaky Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire in Gaza to include the West Bank; a financial committee tasked with the transfer of tax revenues and other funds to the PA; and another to deal with eventual prisoner exchanges.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6207291.stm