Palestinian officials states that President Abbas will receive next Wednesday in Ramallah US Secretary of State Rice who will listen to Abbas and Olmert during her meetings with them on the progress achieved in their bilateral talks and what can the US do to make the international meeting succeed next November. According to the officials, the reports that Rice will receive will constitute the basis upon which the US Administration will build its assessment and conclusions on what has been achieved and what this means in relation to the next steps needed to prepare for the proposed international conference. The officials said President Abbas will leave on Friday to New York to participate in the UN General Assembly meetings and to deliver there the speech of Palestine there. Dr. Nabil Shaath, member of Fatah Central Committee, said the margins of the UN General Assembly meetings will witness active diplomacy based on two matters: first, to make the international conference succeed and lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state, and to exert pressure towards halt of the Israeli settlement activities on the Palestinian lands, including the apartheid wall and the Israeli measures in the city of Jerusalem. He added: President Abbas will work towards forming an international lobby that can exert pressure towards a real peace process that can lead to the establishment of a Palestinian state with al-Quds as its capital. When asked if a meeting between President Abbas and President Bush will be held at the margins of the meetings in New York, Shaath said: this is possible but it has not been confirmed so far; usually President Bush holds short meetings with presidents who participate in the UN General Assembly meetings. The margins of the meetings in New York will also witness a meeting of the Quartet Committee on September 23, 2007, and the Quartet Envoy Tony Blair is expected to present a plan to build the Palestinian state institutions and assist the Palestinians economically. On September 24, a meeting will be held for the Committee Coordinating the donors' assistance to the Palestinians which will listen to PM Salam Fayyad on the needs of the Palestinian government and its economic and developmental plan in preparation for the major donor countries meeting to be held next December which will witness the declaration of new assistance to the Palestinian people.

Published at Al Ayyam NewsPaper on September 16, 2007