Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei on Thursday cautiously welcomed the unilateral actions that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said to carry out.  

Qurei told reporters that if the unilateral actions that Sharon spoke about mean an Israeli army withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territories, the Palestinian side welcomes it of course.

"But if it means to create new facts on the ground that contradicts with the Palestinian national rights and international resolutions, no one will accept it," said Qurei.

Sharon was expected to explain his so-called unilateral steps at the Herzliya Conference on Thursday.

"It is better for us to agree on all remaining and outstanding issues and reach a permanent agreement that could ends the conflict," Qurei said.

A summit between Sharon and Qurei has been brewing for about two weeks, but no fixed date has been arranged for the moment, official Palestinian sources said.

It could be held next week as the earliest, the sources said. 

(Xinhua News Agency December 19, 2003)