Israeli PM extends hand of peace to Abbas, Lebanon

ISRAEL: Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reached out to Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, reiterating a readiness to negotiate peace with the two leaders.

Olmert, weakened by Israel's war in Lebanon and forced to shelve promises to withdraw from the occupied West Bank, also said he would meet the US president in November, in part to turn the screws on arch-enemy Iran.

But his invitation to Siniora was swiftly rebuffed.

"I am ready to meet with him (Abbas) immediately if he wants to talk about the roadmap," Olmert told the Knesset at the opening of its winter session, reiterating frequent calls in recent weeks to meet the Palestinian leader.

The roadmap has stalled ever since its 2003 launch. Drafted by the European Union, Russia, United Nations and United States, the blueprint envisions an independent Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel.

Abbas, who has proved unable to persuade ruling Islamist movement Hamas to accept international demands to recognise Israel, has repeatedly said he is willing to meet Olmert provided such talks are well-prepared in order to achieve results.

Only on Sunday, however, Olmert said efforts to set up a meeting with Abbas, whom he last met informally in June, were at a dead end because the Palestinian president conditioned such talks on the release of prisoners.

Olmert drew a distinction between Abbas and Hamas, which Israel and the West boycott as a terrorist organisation, saying his willingness to meet the president did not mean the Jewish state was softening toward the Islamists.

"As long as Hamas does not recognise Israel, past agreements and does not act to end terrorism, we will not engage with it in dialogue. We will not renounce these conditions," Olmert told parliament.

Setting his sights on Lebanon, he urged Siniora to meet for peace talks following this summer's devastating 34-day war against the Shiite militant group Hezbollah, in what would be the first such summit.

"I call on Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora to meet with me to establish peace between us and Lebanon," he said.

The two countries have not had official relations since the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948. But the Lebanese leader quickly rejected Olmert's call, albeit implicitly, by reiterating that Beirut would be the last Arab country to sign a peace deal with Israel.

Jerusalem, Tuesday, AFP