Palestinian president weighs summit to revive stalled peace talks

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas signalled on Monday he is weighing a proposal to relaunch stalled Middle East peace talks at a US-backed summit with the Israeli and Egyptian leaders early in the new year.                                           

But his decision on the idea, floated by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, will depend on learning what a high-level meeting might yield, Abbas said after talks in Egypt with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak.                                           

Egyptian foreign minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and intelligence chief Omar Suleiman are due to go to Washington on Friday for talks on the initiative.                                           

"The best thing is to judge this issue after the return of the two ministers from the United States because it will be more clear and we can sit down and see the details," the Palestinian news agency Wafa quoted Abbas as saying on Monday. "We don't want to judge it now because it's still unclear."                                           

Abbas is wary of emerging empty-handed from another high-profile meeting with Netanyahu, as he did on September 22 in New York after agreeing to US president Barack Obama's wish for what turned out to be no more than a three-way handshake.                                           

"Statements and meetings and summits are not what's needed. What is needed is tangible steps on the ground and political decisions," Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdainah told Reuters.                                           

He said serious efforts were under way to break the deadlock that has endured since fierce fighting a year ago between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement that controls Gaza.                                           

Israel, Egypt and the United States want Abbas to reopen talks with no more ado, but he refuses as long as Israel allows construction to continue in Jewish West Bank settlements.