Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST  Jun. 22, 2006

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert attended an informal breakfast with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday, and an aide to Abbas said an official summit could be held within two weeks.

Olmert and Abbas met with King Abdullah II in Petra, a 2,000-year-old city carved into Jordan`s rose-red mountains. It was the first meeting between the two leaders since Olmert`s party won parliamentary elections in March.

They shook hands, embraced and kissed each other on the cheek. Asked about his handshake with Olmert, Abbas said, "It was very warm, very warm."

Leaving the meeting, Olmert nodded to reporters when asked if he would meet Abbas again.

Nabil Abu Rdeneh, a top aide to Abbas, said the Palestinian president was waiting for final confirmation from Israel to schedule a formal summit between the two leaders, adding that a location had not yet been decided.

"Supposedly it would be in the coming two weeks," he said.

"From Olmert`s first day in office, we informed them that we are ready for negotiations and to set at the table, and we are waiting for the Israelis," Abu Rdeneh said.

Peres described Thursday`s meeting as a courtesy call, not official negotiations.

"Every meeting has its importance, but these aren`t negotiations," Peres said.

Peres said an internal dialogue among Palestinian factions must be resolved first, before negotiations with Israel.

"To negotiate completely and seriously, we have to see what happens on the Palestinian side, and the Palestinian side is, until now, inconclusive. So we cannot enter serious negotiations yet," Peres said.

Asked whether he considered the dialogue positive, Peres said: "Not if Hamas wins."

But he described contact between Olmert and Abbas as "fruitful and positive."

"Mountains don`t meet, but people do," he said.

About Thursday`s meeting, Abu Rdeneh said that "talking with Mr. Olmert is a good thing to do, but we are looking forward to the formal meeting that will take place in a couple of weeks."

It was the two leaders` first meeting since Olmert was elected in March, though an Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity said the two speak on the phone frequently.

On Wednesday, Peres and Abdullah agreed to initiate immediate cooperation to move forward with building an international airport in Aqaba that would serve both countries.

Olmert, Abbas and Abdullah sat at a round breakfast table with the Dalai Lama, a deputy Thai prime minister and Elie Weisel, a Holocaust survivor and the 1986 Nobel Peace Prize winner.