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JERUSALEM -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will hold a long-delayed, one-on-one meeting June 21, the two sides announced yesterday. The Israeli and Palestinian leaders have not met since a Feb. 8 summit in Egypt, where they declared a cease-fire that has sharply reduced the level of violence. That landmark meeting, held under the auspices of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and King Abdullah of Jordan, raised hopes that the Israelis and Palestinians would soon embark on negotiations aimed at achieving a comprehensive peace accord. Instead, both sides have signaled dissatisfaction with the...

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. first lady Laura Bush will travel this week to the Middle East to press for expanding women's rights amid a furor in the Muslim world over a retracted magazine report that the Koran was desecrated by U.S. interrogators. Her visit to Jordan, Israel and Egypt, announced on Tuesday by the White House, was to be part of President George W. Bush's push for democracy in the region and for restarting the stalled "road map" peace process between Israelis and Palestinians. "The trip is an opportunity for Mrs. Bush to reinforce our commitment to promoting...

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin became today the first Kremlin leader in history to visit Israel, but there was a cool reaction to his idea for a major regional peace conference. The proposal for a Middle East peace conference, Israeli concern over Russian nuclear cooperation with Iran, and bitter opposition to Moscow's planned sale of anti-aircraft weapons to Syria were expected to top the agenda. Flying to Israel from a two-day visit to Egypt, Mr Putin travelled to holy sites in Jerusalem, where he was meeting tomorrow with Israeli President Moshe Katsav and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. On Friday, Mr Putin...

For the first time since he took office, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has been invited to visit with President George Bush at his Crawford, Texas ranch. According to Israel Radio, the decision to change the location of the meeting from the White House to the Bush ranch was intended to show back the peace process and to express support for the prime minister

Israeli president Moshe Katsav has personally thanked Prime Minister John Howard for Australia's efforts in the fight against terror, saying it was an example to the free world. Continuing a tightly-packed schedule on his week-long visit, Mr Katsav had a lunchtime meeting with Mr Howard during his day in the national capital. A spokesman for Mr Katsav described it as an extremely warm meeting between friends. The president spent two hours with Mr Howard at The Lodge including a lunch, a meeting attended with advisers and a private 10-minute chat between the two leaders. Mr Katsav's spokesman said the issue...

Sharon & Abu Mazen Invited to the White House 22:30 Feb 07, '05 / 28 Shevat 5765 US President George W. Bush has extended invitations to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and PA leader Abu Mazen to visit the White House separately in the springtime.