Ehud Olmert yesterday became the first Israeli prime minister to visit a Palestinian town since the outbreak of fighting seven years ago, meeting under heavy guard with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jericho to talk about the creation of a Palestinian state.

Olmert, who told Abbas at the start of their talks that he came to discuss "fundamental issues," took a security risk in coming to the biblical desert town. However, he also gave a symbolic boost to Abbas, who stands to gain stature by hosting Olmert on his own turf.

Accompanied by two helicopters, Olmert arrived by motorcade at a five-star hotel just a few hundred meters from a permanent Israeli army checkpoint on the outskirts of Jericho. The two men embraced outside the hotel, with Olmert telling Abbas in English, "I'm delighted to see you."

The meeting ended three hours later, and Olmert's convoy left Jericho in the direction of Jerusalem.

Both sides termed the meeting was "constructive," but made no announcements of significant progress.

Abbas "did not come to the meeting with a magic wand, and neither did Mr Olmert," Abbas aide Saeb Erekat said at a post-meeting press conference. "There is an agreement on a series of meetings to discuss the issues, including the establishment of a Palestinian state," he said.

David Baker, an Olmert spokesman, said the leaders did not discuss the core issues of the conflict or conduct negotiations.

"Both sides decided to expand the contents of their discussions in order to advance the understandings... to allow further progress to be made for the establishment of a Palestinian state," Baker said.

The meeting was held in one of the West Bank's most peaceful areas. However, it posed a challenge to Olmert's security detail, since Abbas' security forces in the West Bank are still weak. Abbas' troops failed to prevent Hamas militants from seizing the Gaza Strip by force in June.

The meeting also tested renewed Israeli-Palestinian security coordination in the West Bank, following the fall of Gaza to Hamas. The Israeli army sealed checkpoints around Jericho, while Palestinian police blocked roads around the hotel.

The Abbas-Olmert meeting is one in a series of sessions, meant to prepare for an international Mideast conference in the US in November.

(China Daily via agencies August 7, 2007)