Article published on the 2009-09-20 Latest update 2009-09-20 12:30 TU
Jordan's King Abdullah (R) welcomes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on his arrival at the Royal Palace in Saturday
(Photo: Reuters)
The White House surprised the world with the plan to have the two leaders meet, despite the failure of peace envoy George Mitchell's mission last week.
Mitchell failed to convince the Israelis to stop building settlements on the West Bank and there is no sign of movement on that question.
Abbas said in Cairo Saturday that "the road is blocked" by Israel's refusal, while Israeli Foreign Ministry official Yossi Levi accused the Palestinians of blocking the peace process by "making conditions that it has not made in the past".
Washington says that the trilateral meeting will be "immediately preceded" by bilateral meetings of Obama with the two leaders and says that it will try to "lay the groundwork for the relaunch on negotiations".
Abbas will attend the talks because "we don't want to disappoint the American adminstration", an anonymous Palestinian official tol dthe AFP news agency Sunday. He said they do not signal a resumption of peace talks, which depend on the end to settlement building.
Earlier, Netanyahu's office said that he had "responded positively" to the invitation.
The Middle East peace quartet - the US, Russia, the European Union and the UN - also plans to hold talks on the sidelines of the UN meeting.
Rockets fired from Gaza landed in Israel on Sunday, according to the army. No injuries are reported.
2009-09-20 12:18 TU