Jerusalem: Israeli and Palestinian leaders met today, a day ahead of US President George W Bush's arrival in the region, ordering negotiators to begin serious talks on reaching a final peace agreement by the end of the year. Negotiating sessions since the late-November gathering in Annapolis, Maryland, have been marred by Israeli construction plans in disputed territory and violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

At today's meeting, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed to form three "levels" of negotiations. The two leaders, along with separate talks between their chief negotiators, will focus on the most contentious areas of dispute: final borders of a Palestinian state, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

Lower-level teams will discuss more immediate issues, such as Israeli roadblocks. The leaders hope to hammer out a final peace agreement by the end of this year. "Today both leaders agreed ... To authorize them (negotiators) to conduct direct and ongoing negotiations on all the final status issues on all the core issues," Olmert spokesman Mark Regev told reporters after the two-hour meeting.

"We are very much looking forward to the visit of President Bush tomorrow," Regev added. "We think the visit is an opportunity to energize the momentum of the post Annapolis dialogue between us and the Palestinians." Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the meeting was "serious and in depth," and confirmed the two leaders told negotiators to begin talking about core issues.

Source : PTI