Olmert and Abbas aim for summit in coming weeks

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert (L), Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (C) and King Abdullah of Jordan (R). Picture / Reuters.

PETRA, Jordan - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas have agreed to hold a summit in the next few weeks.

Embracing at a breakfast hosted by Jordan's King Abdullah for Nobel prize laureates in the ancient town of Petra, Olmert and Abbas met for the first time since the Israeli leader took office last month.

They both smiled for the cameras, signalling that chances for dialogue were still alive despite a surge in violence along the Israel-Gaza border.

Olmert said he and Abbas decided to meet "in a matter of weeks". Abbas had said earlier that "there is an intention to prepare for our forthcoming meeting as of next week".

But progress towards peace seemed an unlikely prospect with Hamas now leading the Palestinian government and Israel maintaining its bedrock demand that the moderate Abbas, weakened by the Islamic militant group's rise to power, rein in gunmen.

An Israeli political source said Olmert voiced his "deep regret" to Abbas over what he described as the unintentional killing of 14 Palestinian bystanders in recent air strikes in Gaza against militants behind cross-border rocket attacks.

Later, in Israel, Olmert repeated those remarks at an economic conference but pledged to press ahead with attacks against militants.

"The Israeli government I head will continue to carry out targeted strikes to foil planned attacks and against anyone involved in attempts to harm our citizens," he said.

Olmert said Israel would wage a "war against terror ... without hesitation and with full force" while he pursued his plan to reshape its settlement map in the occupied West Bank unilaterally if he concludes the Jewish state has no peace partner.

In the West Bank town of Ramallah, an Israeli military unit on a raid shot dead a Palestinian intelligence officer, local residents said. The Israeli army, which carries out frequent raids to detain suspected militants in the West Bank, said soldiers shot a gunman who opened fire at them.

The United States and other members of the Quartet of Middle East peace brokers - the European Union, United Nations and Russia - have urged Olmert to explore with Abbas the possibility of restarting the long-stalled peace process.

In Jerusalem, a senior member of Olmert's Kadima party, Justice Minister Haim Ramon, said talks with Abbas would go nowhere unless the Palestinian president reined in militants.

"Whoever is incapable of preventing the launching of Qassam (rockets from Gaza) most certainly cannot carry out the commitments of a comprehensive peace agreement," Ramon told Channel One television.

- REUTERS