Bush To Meet With Palestinian President Abbas In Washington

April 23, 2008 7:29 a.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President George Bush will be meeting with Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday in Washington to try to resolve the current impasse on the Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.

Abbas arrived late Tuesday at Andrews Air Force base. He is scheduled to hold talks on Wednesday with Jordan's King Abdullah II, who is also in Washington to meet with the President this week, and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

The meeting between President Bush and Abbas follows a suspension of peace talks last month between Israel and the PNA. Palestinian officials announced on March 2 that negotiations would only resume after Israel ceases its military operations in Gaza. Israeli officials had claimed that their air strikes were in response to provocation by Palestinian militants, according to CNN.

Bush hosted a one-day conference late last year in Annapolis, Maryland between Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and leaders from over 40 nations to try to settle the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The conference set the framework for new peace negotiations to be held biweekly beginning December 12 and for the creation an independent Palestinian state that will live side by side with Israel by the end of 2008.

"We express our determination to bring an end to bloodshed, suffering and decades of conflict between our peoples; to usher in a new era of peace, based on freedom, security, justice, dignity, respect and mutual recognition; to propagate a culture of peace and nonviolence; to confront terrorism and incitement, whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis," the statement from Abbas and Olmert read.

On Thursday, Abbas will discuss with President Bush possible resolutions to the conflict with Israel before the year's end. He also plans to ask the President to push for Israel to stop constructing settlements in the West Bank and eastern Jerusalem, according to the Jerusalem Post. "President Abbas will tell Bush that this is the last chance to reach an agreement," the Jerusalem Post quotes Palestinian officials as saying. "If we fail to reach such an agreement before the end of Bush's term in office, the situation in the region will deteriorate."