MIDDLE EAST:Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas held talks on Palestinian statehood yesterday but discussed core issues only in broad terms, a senior Palestinian official said.
Mr Abbas has been pressing for the highly contentious matters of borders and the future of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees to be included in his discussions with Mr Olmert ahead of a US-sponsored Middle East conference expected in November.
But Saeb Erekat, a senior Abbas adviser who attended the meeting with Mr Olmert in Jerusalem, told reporters: "These talks did not reach the level of details."
Mr Abbas said on Monday the international gathering proposed by US president George Bush would be a waste of time if Israel pressed ahead with plans to pursue only a broadbrush "declaration of principles".
Israeli officials have used that phrase to describe what Mr Olmert might offer in answer to calls for rapid, final talks in detail on establishing a Palestinian state.
David Baker, an Israeli government spokesman, said Mr Abbas and Mr Olmert held two hours of "one-on-one" talks and spoke about fundamental issues that would lead to the establishment of two states for two peoples.
US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice telephoned Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas separately in advance of the talks to "compare notes and talk a little bit about how things are going", said state department spokesman Tom Casey. Mr Casey said the meeting "shows that there is goodwill on both sides to try and move forward on this process". He added that Dr Rice planned to travel to the region soon to try to push the peace process forward but he did not specify a date.
Israeli political commentators said Mr Olmert, weakened by the failings of his government and the military in last year's Lebanon war, was in no rush to take on "final-status" issues in depth and risk splitting a cabinet that includes the far right.
Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas would continue to "exert every effort" in pursuit of the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, Mr Erekat said.