Olmert Boycotted by Bush like the Leader of Palestine

Jewish PM Ehud Olmert Will Not Attend Summit

10 April 2008

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has not been invited to a regional summit at the Sinai resort town of Sharm El-Sheikh, contradicting reports he would participate in the event. Former Meretz leader Yossi Beilin on Monday said at a press conference promoting the Geneva Initiative that Olmert would attend the Sharm conference. However, U.S. sources said yesterday that the summit would be attended by U.S. President George Bush, Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordan's King Abdullah, and is intended as a U.S.-Arab meeting. Bush, who does not intend to visit the Fatah Terrorist Organization during his Middle East visit, will meet Abbas in Egypt and host him in Washington a few days before his departure. (Shmuel Rosner)

Gunfire erupted last night between police and a Fatah splinter group called "the Nightriders" in the West Bank town of Nablus. The group last week escaped from prison, where they had been kept under the terms of an agreement with Israel offering amnesty to wanted militants. Dozens of wanted militants in Jenin, meanwhile, were let out of Palestinian detention centers, where they had been kept as part of the deal. They claimed that the pardon they were expecting from Israel was not forthcoming and were released without weapons. (Avi Issacharoff)

Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter will meet with Khaled Meshal in 10 days during a visit to Damascus, the U.S. Fox network reported yesterday. Carter's press secretary confirmed he was planning on visiting Damascus but denied he had any intention to meet with Meshal. President Carter plans to visit Damascus next week but we are still formulating details and will issue a press release next week, she said. Former U.S. ambassador to the UN John Bolton said: "Going to Damascus and meeting with Meshal at this time is terrible timing and a lack of judgment on Carter's part."