Israeli PM to continue the talks with Abbas

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday that he planned to continue to meet with Palestinian National Authority (PNA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Olmert told the ministers at the weekly cabinet meeting that his Saturday meeting with Abbas was a good meeting, and he planned to continue to meet Abbas in order to implement the joint understandings and the diplomatic agenda Israel wish to promote.

On Saturday evening, Olmert held a long-awaited meeting with the PNA leader in Jerusalem.

The meeting, announced just hours before it began, marked the first substantial talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in 22 months.

During the two-hour meeting, Olmert and Abbas reached a series of concessions, including the transfer of 100 million U.S. dollars in frozen taxes collected on behalf of the PNA.

Israel had frozen the transfer of tax rebates and other funds to the Palestinians after the Islamic militant Hamas came to power in March.

Olmert also agreed to remove several West Bank checkpoints, and reexamine security procedures at the Karni commercial crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip, in order to facilitate to transit of goods into Gaza.

However, the two leaders failed to reach agreement on a key issue -- a prisoner swap involving abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit, but decided to set up a committee to study it further.

According to Israeli daily the Jerusalem Post, Olmert held a phone conversation with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Sunday before the cabinet meeting, during which the prime minister updated his Egyptian counterpart about Saturday's meeting with Abbas, and the two agreed to meet soon.

Source: Xinhua