In his meeting Tuesday in Ramalla with speaker of the U.S House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, President Mahmoud Abbas, looked forward to meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert on bi-weekly basis to promote peace.
Abbas also briefed his gusts on the Palestinian factions deal in Mecca last February that led to the installation of a Palestinian unity government, comprising of Fatah, Hamas and other Palestinian parties, top Palestinian negotiator, Saeb Eriqat, told reporters.
Eriqat said that the Palestinian president expressed concern over the continued internationally-imposed economic embargo on the Palestinian Authority despite establishment of a unity cabinet that respects previous Palestinian obligations.
The Abbas-Pelosi meeting comes amidst active U.S diplomacy in the region, aiming at filling in the gab between Palestinians and Israelis in advance of possible revival of Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.
In her fourth visit to the region on March, U.S Secretary of States, Condoleezza Rice, stressed that both Israelis and Palestinians ‘need to set a common agenda’ in order to realize a two-state solution.
Palestinian-Israeli peace process has been stalled since September 2000, when violence broke out after the then Israeli opposition leader, Ariel Sharon, paid a provocative visit to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, sparking the current Palestinian uprising.
