Israel's Peres holds secret meeting with Abbas in Jordan: report

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Veteran Israeli politician Shimon Peres held a secret meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan on Sunday, Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported Monday.

Peres, the No. 2 candidate of the centrist Kadima party that is leading in public polls in the run-up of a March 28 election, met Abbas before the Palestinian leader left for Europe on a tour to appeal for continual European aid to the Palestinians, said the report, citing confirmation of the meeting from Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Office.

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"They discussed building a special emergency fund for humanitarian aid for the Palestinian population," said the source.

It was the first meeting between leading political figures from Israel and the Palestinians after Hamas came into power following its landslide election win in January.

PeoplesDaily

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1. Fatah faces US cutoff if it joins Hamas government

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Washington plans to curtail contacts with President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction and other parties if they join a Palestinian government led by the militant group Hamas, Western diplomatic sources said on Monday.

The warning came as Fatah officials held another round of inconclusive coalition talks in Gaza with Hamas, which defeated long-dominant Fatah in January elections.

Fatah has so far said it has no intention of joining the new government, which the law states must be formed by the end of the month, unless Hamas, whose charter calls for Israel's destruction, changes its political program.

Hamas plans to present a new "position paper" to Fatah before talks resume on Tuesday and aims to form a government by the end of the week, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said.

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