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Quartet invite Abbas and Olmert to talks in Egypt

International mediators invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for talks in Cairo this month, stepping into the vacuum created by the Palestinians' last-minute cancelation of a meeting yesterday between the two men.

The diplomatic maneuvering took place at a time when a brittle truce between rival Palestinian gunmen began to unravel. One gunman from Abbas' Fatah faction was killed before daybreak yesterday in a shootout with fighters from the rival Hamas faction in the southern Gaza Strip -- the first fatality in Palestinian infighting since the truce took hold in the middle of last month.

More than 50 Palestinians died in two weeks of internal strife that eased after Hamas stepped up its rocket attacks on Israel, drawing dozens of Israeli airstrikes and unifying the Palestinian groups against their common enemy.

volatile

The bombardments on both sides, which shattered a five-month-old truce between Israel and Gaza militants, have eased dramatically in recent days.

But, with the situation so volatile, the latest round of Palestinian-Israeli violence -- which killed more than 60 Palestinians, most of them militants, and two Israeli civilians -- was to have dominated the Olmert-Abbas meeting yesterday in the West Bank town of Jericho.

The Palestinians called the talks off, however, accusing Israel of rejecting all their proposals in preparatory talks.

In lieu of that meeting, the so-called Quartet of Mideast mediators -- the US, EU, Russia and the UN -- invited the two leaders for talks in Egypt on June 25, Palestinian Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr announced.

Representatives of the 22-member Arab League, which is pushing a sweeping peace plan, will also attend, Abu Amr said.

US and Egyptian officials confirmed the planned gathering in Cairo. Olmert's office said it has not received a formal invitation.

The Olmert-Abbas meeting was supposed to be one of a series of get-togethers meant to bring Israelis and Palestinians closer to talks on a final peace deal.

However, Palestinian officials faulted Israel for rejecting an Abbas proposal to reinstate the Gaza ceasefire in Gaza and then expand it a month later to the West Bank, where Israeli troops pursue wanted militants in frequent and sometimes deadly raids. Israel sees the proposal as a ruse that would allow militants to regroup and intensify attacks.

sticking point

Another key sticking point was Israel's refusal to release hundreds of millions of dollars in tax money it collects for the Palestinians.

Israel froze the payments last year after Hamas was elected to power, demanding the militant group accept international calls to renounce violence and recognize the Jewish state.

The cutoff in payments, along with international sanctions against the Palestinian government meant to pressure Hamas to change its stripes, have deepened the crushing poverty in Gaza and the West Bank.

Hamas brought the more moderate Fatah into its government in March, but the sanctions have remained intact for the most part because Hamas hasn't modified its anti-Israel ideology.

Also see stories:
Jerusalem: a city with a hidden unity
The Palestinians have two choices: outside help or total war
So who wants peace in the Middle East?

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