WASHINGTON - The US and Palestinian presidents George W. Bush and Mahmud Abbas on Thursday started a groundbreaking summit on Middle East peace efforts.
The meeting started at 10:40 am (1440 GMT) and the two were to hold a press conference at about 11:30 am (1530 GMT).
It is the first time a Palestinian president has been invited to the White House since the late Yasser Arafat went there in January 2001. Bush refused to meet Arafat.
The talks were expected to be dominated by efforts to revive the "roadmap" plan for Middle East peace. Abbas said he would seek a greater US commitment to find a permanent solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
05/26/2005 14:55 GMT