The New Nation - Internet Edition

AFP, Jakarta

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said Monday during a visit to Indonesia that he hoped to secure "a real solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian crisis by the end of 2008. The president is on a tour of key Muslim powers in Asia to drum up support ahead of a US-sponsored meeting with Israel expected by year-end, and was speaking after meeting with Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. "We are now in an intensive communication with Israel with the hope that we can form a document that can be accepted by both sides and by the international community," he told a press briefing, speaking in Arabic. He said the hope was that the document would "become a reference for future conferences, then there will be a negotiation with the Israelis and before the end of 2008 we hope there will be a real solution." Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert have been trying to cobble together the document ahead of an international meeting called by US President George W. Bush expected to take place in Annapolis, Maryland by year-end.