Mahmoud Abbas

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Bush Begins Mideast Peace Bid
Bush Begins Mideast Peace Bid

Bush Begins Mideast Peace Bid

First international peace gathering since 1991

(Newser) - President Bush plunged headlong into the Middle East peace process yesterday, meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as representatives of 49 countries gathered at Annapolis for talks, the New York Times reports. “The United States cannot impose our vision but we can help...

Bush Meets With Olmert, Abbas
Bush Meets With Olmert, Abbas

Bush Meets With Olmert, Abbas

Bush jump-starts peace talks a day ahead of Annapolis summit

(Newser) - On the eve of the Mideast peace summit, which begins tomorrow in Annapolis, President Bush held separate talks with Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas today in the Oval Office, reports the Washington Post. Between meetings, Bush thanked both leaders for participating in the talks and said he was “optimistic”...

Computer Game Lets Players Try Virtual Peace

Peace center will distribute games to Israelis, Palestinians during US talks

(Newser) - A computer game that promotes peace in the Middle East will be distributed to Palestinians and Israelis this week while their leaders meet in the US to negotiate, the Associated Press reports. “PeaceMaker” players choose roles as Israeli or Palestinian leaders and respond to attacks from the opposing side....

Bush's Palestine Play Doomed
Bush's Palestine Play Doomed

Bush's Palestine Play Doomed

Prez's late peace push faces bigger problems than Clinton's failed effort

(Newser) - George Bush, like Bill Clinton before him, is making a last-minute push to broker Arab-Israeli peace, but with much steeper odds, says Reuters' Arshad Mohammed. Bush, Mahmoud Abbas, and Ehud Olmert are all unpopular, especially compared to their 2000 counterparts—Clinton, Yasser Arafat, and Ehud Barak. “When Clinton tried...

Olmert Releases 441 Palestinian Prisoners

Israeli PM courts Arab support ahead of next week's peace talks

(Newser) - Ehud Olmert today requested the release of 441 Palestinian prisoners and promised to stop building new settlements on the West Bank, in the hope of bolstering Arab enthusiasm for upcoming talks on Palestinian statehood. But the gesture was received coolly: Mahmoud Abbas had asked for 2,000 prisoners, and the...

'Bring Down' Hamas in Gaza: Palestinian Prez

Hamas is 'abusing our people,' says Abbas

(Newser) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday called for the overthrow of the Hamas government in Gaza for "abusing" people. "We have to bring down this bunch, which took over Gaza with armed force," he said in his most inflammatory remarks since Hamas took over in June. Abbas' angry...

Abbas: Palestinian State Possible by 2009

Palestinian president speculates on statehood before Bush leaves office

(Newser) - The Palestinians and the Israelis can broker peace before George Bush leaves office in January 2009, Mahmoud Abbas said today in a press conference with Condoleezza Rice. The Palestinian president parroted a statement last night by Israeli PM Ehud Olmert. Putting the leaders on the same page is an achievement...

Rice to Proceed, Cautiously, With Mideast Talks

Low expectations for weekend trip, with little concrete progress

(Newser) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet Israeli and Palestinian leaders this weekend in order to create a document of joint principles as a prerequisite to a peace conference expected later this month. For fear of killing the conference before it begins, the document will contain few hard-core specifics, instead...

Olmert Has Prostate Cancer
Olmert Has Prostate Cancer

Olmert Has Prostate Cancer

Diagnosis won't interfere with work, Israeli PM promises, as peace talks loom

(Newser) - Israeli PM Ehud Olmert has prostate cancer, he announced today, and will undergo minor surgery to treat it. He said his medical condition is not life-threatening and would not affect his ability to govern. “From what my doctors have told me, this is a microscopic growth that can be...

Israel Cuts Fuel to Gaza
Israel Cuts Fuel to Gaza

Israel Cuts Fuel to Gaza

Government says reduction won't cause a humanitarian crisis

(Newser) - Israel cut Gaza’s fuel supply today in a bid to force the strip's Hamas government to curb rocket attacks on Israel. An Israeli official told the New York Times the plan was to cut deliveries 5 to 11%, but a Gazan official told the AP shipments were short by...

Israel Foils Plot to Kill Olmert
Israel Foils Plot to Kill Olmert

Israel Foils Plot to Kill Olmert

Palestinian prez ordered Fatah elite force to attack, say Israeli officials

(Newser) - Israel thwarted a plot by Fatah militants to attack a convoy carrying Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to the West Bank town of Jericho in August, AFP reports. Plotters  reportedly included members of an elite group directly under the command of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Three men were arrested by Palestinian...

Rice Calls for Palestinian State
Rice Calls for Palestinian State

Rice Calls for Palestinian State

(Newser) - It is time for the establishment of a Palestinian state, Condoleezza Rice said today in Ramallah. A two-state solution is "absolutely essential for the future, not just of Palestinians and Israelis but also for the Middle East and indeed to American interests," she said after meeting with Mahmoud...

Hamas Seeks Talks With Fatah Over Gaza

Meetings could begin next week, but Fatah leaders skeptical

(Newser) - Hamas officials said yesterday they are prepared to meet with Fatah leaders to discuss the future of the Gaza Strip, and indicated they might give up control of the region they've held since June. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has insisted Hamas hand over Gaza and recognize his authority before talks...

Bush Jockeys for Mideast Peace Conference

Meets with Palestinian leader to bolster support

(Newser) - President Bush yesterday met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Britain's Mideast envoy Tony Blair to build support for an Israeli-Palestinian peace conference in November, reports Reuters. Bush reiterated his support for a Palestinian state, and Abbas expressed a "sense of hope" concerning possible progress at the planned conference.

Fatah, Hamas Unite for Ramadan
Fatah, Hamas Unite for Ramadan

Fatah, Hamas Unite for Ramadan

Despite shared start date for holy month, tensions still run high

(Newser) - Ramadan this year will mark a brief expression of unity for the rival Palestinian governments of Hamas, in Gaza, and Fatah, in the West Bank. The holy month begins today or tomorrow—and deciding the date can cause tension between factions across the Muslim world, the AP reports. And despite...

Israel Delays Prisoner Release
Israel Delays Prisoner Release

Israel Delays Prisoner Release

Negotiations dragged out

(Newser) - Israel is unlikely to release up to 100 prisoners scheduled for release, Yediot Aharonot reports. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas are in meetings today in advance of a summit in Washington. Israel normally releases some non-violent prisoners as a goodwill gesture at Ramadan, but officials say...

Jewish Squatters Protest West Bank Evacuation

Dissidents hurl rocks, light bulbs at police

(Newser) - As Israel moves closer to an evacuation of the West Bank, hundreds of Jewish protesters barricaded themselves in Hebron's market today, Haaretz reports, using barbed wire, oil drums, and burning tires. Police evicted two families as teenagers on rooftops lobbed rocks, eggs, and light bulbs at forces trying to break...

Olmert, Abbas Talk on Palestinian Soil

Jericho get-together signals progress in stalled peace process

(Newser) - Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas met in the West Bank city of Jericho today, the first time an Israeli head of state has been to the Palestinian territories in 7 years. The meeting was an attempt by both parties to bolster the moderate Fatah party’s standing and to bring...

Rice Pushes Peace Talks With Olmert, Abbas

Takes mission to Jerusalem, West Bank

(Newser) - Condoleezza Rice took her diplomatic tour to Jerusalem and the West Bank today, hoping to rekindle peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian government of Mahmoud Abbas. Rice comes bearing a promise from Saudi Arabia to support the peace conference proposed by the White House for later this year, Reuters...

Blair Debuts as Mideast Envoy
Blair Debuts as Mideast Envoy

Blair Debuts as Mideast Envoy

Ex-PM the only one smiling as he tackles plan to build a viable Palestinian state

(Newser) - Less than a month after vacating 10 Downing, Tony Blair jumped into his new role as Mideast peace envoy today, meeting Jordanian and Israeli leaders in Jerusalem. Tomorrow he  sits down with  Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas, and Wednesday with Israeli PM Ehud Olmert. Blair remains upbeat in the face of...

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