Egypt to host Olmert-Abbas summit next week (I believe in read Sunday in another article)
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has invited Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah II to attend a summit in Egypt early next week, a senior aide to Abbas said Thursday.
The regional summit is scheduled to take place at the Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.
Rabbo said Thursday
that the Palestinians demand concrete results from the gathering, and warned that if it ended without results, it would cause more harm than good.
Another senior aide to Abbas, Saeb Erekat, said Thursday that Abbas will call for a resumption of peace talks with Israel at the summit, arguing that only progress toward Palestinian statehood can serve as a true buffer against Hamas.
"The most important thing to realize is that time is of the essence," Erekat said. "We need to deliver the end of occupation, a Palestinian state. If we don't have hope, Hamas will export despair to the people."
As immediate steps, Erekat said, Abbas will ask Israel to remove West Bank checkpoints that disrupt daily life and
trade, and to transfer hundreds of millions of dollars in Palestinian tax funds Israel froze after Hamas came to power last year.