Israel, Palestinian step up contacts after Sharon talk of unilateral steps
AFP, November, 2003
JERUSALEM (AFP) — Israel and the Palestinians were stepping up contacts after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon admitted some withdrawals from occupied land were inevitable but also warned of unilateral measures.
Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei's bureau chief Hassan Abu Libdeh was due to meet with Sharon's own top adviser Dov Weisglass next week, to pave the way for a first meeting between the two premiers.
The principle of that meeting appeared to have been secured two weeks ago, following the swearing in of Qorei's new cabinet, but Sharon's tough line in a speech to the press Thursday cast some doubt over the summit.
Yet the publicity surrounding an unofficial peace plan due to be signed in Geneva on Monday has forced Sharon to show he is undertaking his own efforts for a resumption of talks.
His son Omri, an MP and influential behind-the-scenes negotiator, met Thursday in ...