Olmert, Abbas to meet in Jerusalem on Wednesday
Erekat says Palestinian president will raise issues of permanent-status issues, checkpoints and prisoners
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet in Jerusalem on Wednesday, a week after Olmert threw US-sponsored peace talks into turmoil by announcing that he would step down.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said the meeting would take place at Olmert's official residence in Jerusalem.
Olmert's spokesman, Mark Regev, confirmed that the meeting would take place on Wednesday.
Faced with a widening corruption probe, Olmert announced last Wednesday that he would stand down as premier after a September 17 leadership contest within his centrist Kadima party.
It could take months for a new Kadima leader to form a new government, possibly giving Olmert some time to press ahead with the negotiations.
The corruption investigation has hampered Olmert's ability to conclude peace deals with the Palestinians and Syria, although he has said he will persist in those efforts as long as he is premier.
The Palestinians have recently expressed their dissatisfaction with the slow progression of the peace talks.
Olmert and Abbas last met two weeks ago at the Union for the Mediterranean conference in Paris. During that meeting the Israeli PM promised to release Palestinian prisoners as a gesture to the Abbas.
"We are in the midst of negotiations with the Palestinians. We will continue the negotiations, they are important, they are serious, they are being conducted carefully and responsibly," Olmert told the conference.
"I know all those sitting around this table, and many who are not here, led by the United States, want us to succeed in reaching a deal which will lead to stability, an atmosphere of justice, an atmosphere of relaxation, an end to violence and peace for us and for the Palestinians based on a vision of two states for two people. This is what we want and this is what we'll do with al the Arab states we have yet to sign a peace deal with."
