Israeli peace initiative 'a positive step' - Abbas

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said today that a peace initiative proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was a “positive” step toward peacemaking.

Olmert told the Palestinians yesterday that he was prepared to grant them a state, release desperately needed funds and free prisoners if they choose the path of peace. He also said that Israel would pull out of West Bank land and uproot settlements under a peace deal with the Palestinians.

“We look at it positively, especially that Mr Olmert clearly referred to the Arab peace plan, which we consider as one the most significant bases for a solution to the Palestinian issue presented by the Arabs,” Abbas said following talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah II in the Jordanian capital of Amman.

He was referring to an Arab peace plan, which stipulates Arab recognition of Israel in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from lands its seized since the 1967 Mideast war.

Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – the United States’ staunchest allies in the Middle East, consider the plan the only viable solution to the lingering Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Abbas said if Olmert’s “intentions are good, then we can build on this (his initiative) in order to put forward a plan for future negotiations on all issues related to the Palestinian cause.”

The Palestinian leader dodged a clear answer on Israeli conditions for returning to the negotiating table, which include the release of an Israeli soldier held hostage by Hamas-linked militants since June.

“They (the Israelis) say we want this and that, it’s important, but the content of the initiative is positive and we will respond to it positively in an official statement,” he said.

Abbas said that his meeting with Abdullah focused on coordinating positions on all “the details that will be raised with President Bush and the American administration.”

US President George Bush arrives in Jordan tomorrow for two days of talks with Abdullah and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. His discussions are expected to focus on proposals to curb the sectarian strife in Iraq, which threatens to become a full-blown civil war, and the possible transfer of security responsibility to Iraqi forces.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be in Jordan at the same time as Bush to attend a Middle East democracy and development conference at the Dead Sea. US and Arab officials initially said Rice may hold a separate meeting to revive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, but the prospects for that were still unclear.

Abbas said that he will meet with Rice in the West Bank “later” this week, but did not say when.

Saeb Erekat, a top Abbas aide, said that the Palestinian leader would meet Rice in the West Bank town of Jericho on Thursday. The US Embassy said it could not confirm the meeting. Israeli officials said there were no plans for Rice to meet with Israeli leaders during her trip to the region.