Olmert, Abbas hold first formal talks

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday, a first step toward reviving long stalled peace negotiations.   

Peace talks collapsed in 2000 just before the start of a Palestinian uprising and appeared all but dead when Hamas Islamists took power in March.   

The meeting at the Israeli leader's residence in Jerusalem was the first formal talks between the two since Olmert replaced Ariel Sharon as prime minister in January when Sharon suffered a massive stroke.   

Israel has been under pressure from the United States and the European Union to take steps to support Abbas since he called for early Palestinian elections, a move that Hamas has rejected as a "coup" and unconstitutional.   

The talks started around 7.30 p.m. (1730 GMT). The two men were not expected to hold a news conference at the end of their meeting, but release a statement instead, officials said.   

Officials had worked for months to prepare a meeting to move the stalled peace process forward.   

"The issues on the table are the continuation of the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, what is happening with the Palestinian Authority's (Hamas-led) government and the issue of Gilad Shalit," said Miri Eisin, a spokeswoman for Olmert.   

Palestinian militants from Gaza abducted Shalit, an Israeli soldier, in a cross-border raid in June. His kidnapping prompted Israel to launch a months-long offensive in Gaza that largely ended with a shaky truce in late November.   

Abbas and Olmert met informally on the sidelines of a conference in Jordan earlier this year.   

Abbas's last formal meeting with an Israeli prime minister was in February 2005 when Sharon was leader. The moderate Palestinian leader's decision to call elections ratcheted up tensions in Gaza and the occupied West Bank between forces loyal to Hamas and Abbas's Fatah. At least 10 people have been killed in internal fighting in the last week.       

Israel and the West cut off direct aid to the Palestinian Authority after Hamas beat Fatah in January elections. The sanctions were imposed because of Hamas's refusal to renounce violence, recognise the Jewish state and abide by past peace deals with it.   

Fatah and Hamas have failed to reach an agreement on forging a national unity government, a move Palestinians had hoped would prompt the resumption of direct foreign aid.   

Olmert had said that Abbas should not expect major concessions from Israel until Shalit was released.   

But Nimer Hammad, a senior Abbas aide, said: "If there were no expected concrete results that would benefit the Palestinian people, the meeting would not have taken place."   

It remains to be seen whether Israeli gestures will be substantial enough to boost Abbas, who favours a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Hamas seeks Israel's destruction.   

A top priority for Abbas will be securing commitments from Olmert for the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.    Israel has made clear it would be willing to release prisoners, including some long-serving ones, but only if Shalit was freed. Egypt has sought to mediate a prisoner exchange.   

Abbas was also expected to press Israel to release Palestinian tax revenues. Western diplomats said Olmert's office has been considering a partial transfer of funds to Abbas's office but Israeli officials said no decision has been made.   

Senior Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said earlier this week that Israel would not transfer the money directly to Abbas, but would use it to pay Palestinian bills to Israeli utilities as it has in the past.   

Western diplomats said Israel may opt to provide a portion of the tax money to Palestinian hospitals. Israel says it is withholding nearly $500 million in Palestinian tax revenues -- money that would normally be used by the Palestinian Authority to pay government workers.