Summary
[George W. Bush] invited the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to separate meetings at the White House today to prepare for the centrepiece of his Mideast gathering -- an all-day session Tuesday in Annapolis, Md. It is to be the only time that Bush, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meet together, and their three-way handshake is expected to be the conference's symbolic high point. Bush closes the U.S. effort with a second set of separate Israeli and Palestinian meetings at the White House on Wednesday.
"We're confident there will be a document and we'll get to Annapolis in good shape on that," but bargaining may well continue behind the scenes during the session Tuesday, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in an interview.Separately, Palestinian negotiators Ahmed Qureia and Saeb Erekat met Tzipi Livni, Israel's lead negotiator, for unscheduled talks Sunday evening. Asked if they were optimistic about the prospect for reaching a consensus on a joint declaration, Qureia replied, "You don't meet if you're not optimistic."See the full content of this document
Extract
Syria Agrees to Attend Peace Conference
Expectations for summit remain low
By Anne GearanWASHINGTON -- Arab holdout Syria agreed Sunday to attend a Middle East peace conference called by President George W. Bush...See the full content of this document
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