WASHINGTON - Israel and the Palestinians said Monday they had made major progress in reviving frozen peace talks, as US President George W. Bush launched his biggest push yet to end the Middle East conflict.
"The negotiation teams have made important progress towards an agreement on a joint document," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev told AFP.
But he denied Palestinian claims that the two sides had agreed on a final draft of the document outlining the contours of future negotiations.
Palestinian negotiator Yasser Abed Rabbo said the document would be made public later Monday after weeks of behind-the-scenes haggling.
"This document, which we are due to conclude today with the blessing of the Americans will determine the terms of reference for negotiations -- such as the roadmap and international resolutions -- and the modalities for negotiations after Annapolis," he said.
And Abed Rabbo said final-status negotiations on core issues such as the status of Jerusalem, which both sides claim as their capital, the borders of a future Palestinian state and the fate of Palestinian refugees, would be formally launched in Washington in two days time.
"The negotiations on the final status will begin on Wednesday in the presence of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas," he told AFP.
But a senior Israeli official denied there was an agreement to launch final-status negotiations on Wednesday, which would end a seven-year hiatus.
"If we still haven't reached an agreement on a joint document, there is no way we would agree on the launching of final-status talks," he said.
Bush, who has said he is "personally committed" to resolving the decades-old Middle East conflict, was to meet separately during the day with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
The White House talks come on the eve of a major peace conference to be held Tuesday in Annapolis, Maryland, gathering more than 50 organizations and countries, including some 16 Arab nations.
In a major coup for US diplomacy, both Syria and Saudi Arabia are attending the talks, which will mark the first time that Saudi officials have sat with Israelis to talk about peace in the Middle East.
But the Annapolis conference is already drawing fire from those not invited to take part.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad chided Saudi Arabia bluntly telling King Abdullah in a telephone conversation that he wished Riyadh was not attending the conference.
"I wish the name of Saudi Arabia was not among those attending the Annapolis conference," Ahmadinejad told the king late Sunday, according to state news agency IRNA.
And in a further sign of the rift between the Palestinians, the Islamist Hamas movement which seized control of the Gaza Strip earlier this year said the Palestinians would not be bound by the results of the Annapolis talks.
"The decisions taken at Annapolis are not binding on the Palestinian people, who have not authorized anyone, either Arab or Palestinian, to erase their rights," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told AFP.
Brushing criticism aside, Bush seems however determined to make a push to bring the Israelis and Palestinians together.
"I remain personally committed to implementing my vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security," Bush said in a statement later Sunday.
White House national security advisor Stephen Hadley said Bush "will make very clear that this effort has his support, and is a top priority for the remaining time in his second term," but he will not impose solutions.
Meanwhile Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt, who was due to attend the Annapolis talks, warned of the high risks of failure.
"Everyone realizes ... that if the discussions fail the situation in the region will most probably worsen dramatically," Bildt wrote in the Dagens Nyheter daily.
"It is unfortunately easy to see that president Abbas will then disappear from the Palestinian side, and in his place more militant forces will most probably take over."
bur/jkb/mac

11/26/2007 15:41 GMT