Abbas to visit Washington Oct. 20
U.S. official says Abbas will visit Washington to discuss peace progress; meanwhile, Abbas-Sharon summit postponed
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will visit Washington on October 20. Abbas and U.S. President George W. Bush will discuss ways to advance the Middle East peace process following the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.
Renewed violence has damaged hopes that Israel's troop pullout from Gaza, completed on Sept. 12 under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for "disengaging" from conflict with the Palestinians, would improve chances for peace.
The U.S. official said President George W. Bush and Abbas would discuss "the way forward" in their meeting.
Summit called off
Meanwhile, with little prospect for progress soon along a U.S.-backed peace "Road map", Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said a meeting set for Oct. 2 between Sharon and Abbas had been postponed.
"We don't want the meeting just for the sake of meeting. On the contrary, we want a meeting that is well prepared," he said.
In the meantime, Abbas met Wednesday morning with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Cairo. The two leaders discussed the latest security deterioration in Gaza. Later in the day Abbas met with other Egyptian government officials.
Abbas requested Mubarak's assistance in stopping what he called the Israeli escalation against Palestinians.
The two leaders discussed the current situation and, according to Palestinian sources, agreed to continue the dialogue with Palestinian factions in a bid to return the calm and stabilize the situation.
News agencies contributed to the story
