Jerusalem - Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni is to
travel to Washington Tuesday night for another round of peace
negotiations with Palestinians under the auspices of US officials
scheduled for Wednesday, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said.
Former Palestinian premier Ahmed Qureia would represent the
Palestinian side in the three-way talks with Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, US Vice-President Dick Cheney and national security
advisor Stephen Hadley.
The talks will take place against the backdrop of comments by
Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert on Monday that put a damper on hopes for
an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.
'I do not believe we can reach understandings this year which will
include the subject of Jerusalem,' Olmert said.
Aside from this so-called core issue in negotiations, other key
issues were 'bridgeable,' the premier said.
A senior Palestinian official meanwhile on Monday described the
Washington meeting as a 'last chance' for the troubled negotiations.
The Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are being held amid a virtual
media blackout, and with conflicting reports and little indication of
whether or not there is any progress.
The US is putting pressure on the two sides to agree to a peace
deal before US President George W Bush's term ends in early 2009.
Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas pledged at the
Annapolis peace summit in November to try and forge a deal by the end
of 2008, and peace talks between the sides resumed - after a seven-
year hiatus - around the turn of the year.
With allegations of corruption hanging over him, Olmert is facing
an uncertain political future, while his relationship with Livni -
seen as a possible future premier - appearing increasingly hostile.
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