Abbas, Mofaz hold telephone talks

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz held talks by telephone for several minutes on Saturday, official sources said.

Mofaz briefed Abbas on his two meetings with Palestinian interior minister Nasser Yousef on Wednesday and the meeting with civil affairs minister Mohamed Dahlan on Friday, the sources said .

The sources revealed they also talked about the current preparations for the scheduled summit between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on June 21 and agreed to continue their contacts.

The sources added that the telephone conversation was made after Mofaz and Dahlan agreed to coordinate during the Israeli withdrawal of settlements from Gaza and part of the West Bank starting in mid August.

It was also agreed between the two that Israel would soon ease restrictions on the daily life and movement of the Palestinians in the occupied territories.

Source: Xinhua