Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is scheduled to meet with Palestinian National Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas later on Saturday, Olmert's spokeswoman confirmed to Xinhua.

"They will meet later tonight," the prime minister's spokeswoman Miri Eisin said, noting that the exact time and the place of the meeting would not be open to media until its ending.

Israeli television reported earlier in the day that Olmert and Abbas were to hold talks in the coming hours.

This would be the leaders' first official meeting since Olmert's election in January this year.

The meeting comes two days after British Prime Minister Tony Blair finished his Middle East tour, during which he called for an initiative to jumpstart the stalled Mideast peace process.

Early on Thursday, Abbas said that he hoped to meet Olmert before the end of the year.

Source: Xinhua