Preparations underway for possible summit between Abbas, Netanyahu, Obama
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A three-way summit for Palestinian, Israeli and US leaders is expected to take place during the United Nations General Assembly in New York next month, Palestinian sources said on Wednesday.
The sources confirmed that preparations to hold that meeting were underway but refused to confirm or deny whether president Mahmoud Abbas would accept to attend the meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Barack Obama.
According to the sources, Abbas wants Israel to stop building settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem before agreeing to meet Netanyahu.
Obama's administration also wants the Jewish state to stop the settlement activities because they make creating a Palestinian statehood in the future almost impossible.
Obama is awaited to declare his vision on pushing forward the Middle East peace talks at his speech before the General Assembly.
The peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have stopped when Israel launched a three-week offensive in the Gaza Strip in late December.
Prior to visiting New York, president Abbas will stop at Arab countries in northern Africa and a number of European states, including France and Spain.
(Xinhua News Agency August 27, 2009)
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