RAMALLAH, West Bank, Jan 10 (AFP) - New Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas is likely to have a summit meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in a fortnight, foreign minister Nabil Shaath said Monday.
Asked when the two men would meet, Shaath said talks would take place "probably in two weeks".
Top level Israeli-Palestinian contacts have been frozen since Abbas resigned as prime minister in September 2003.
Both men have indicated a willingness to return to the negotiating table.
Abbas, whose landslide victory in the election for the head of the Palestinian Authority was confirmed Monday, has already offered "the hand of peace" to Israel.
Sharon refused all contact with Abbas's late predecessor Yasser Arafat, dismissing him as an absolute obstacle to peace.
01/10/2005 19:18 GMT - AFP