Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas cast
doubts Monday on recent comments by Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert that progress
has been made in the Middle East peace process.
Olmert told US President George W Bush in Jerusalem last week that peace
negotiations with Abbas were making "serious progress" and
negotiations "hopefully will come to fruition within this year,
2008."
However, Abbas said in an interview published Monday in the Saudi Al-Watan
newspaper that "there is no agreement, rather what has taken place is only
an exchange of views."
Abbas, who met with Bush at the weekend on the fringes of the World Economic
Forum (WEF) in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, expressed scepticism at
Bush's prediction that the foundations of a Palestinian state could be
established before the end of 2008.
Meanwhile, speaking Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh, Turkish Foreign Minister Ali
Babacan warned against excessive expectations over Turkish-mediated indirect
talks between Israel and Syria: "We are only at the beginning."
"Both sides approached us separately ... we told both sides that this
track should in no way overshadow the Palestinian track," Babacan said.
Referring to the talks Israel Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said: "The
Syrian president knows exactly what we think and we know exactly what he
thinks."
The two sides and Turkey have maintained absolute secrecy over the details of
the talks. dpa
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