Nazareth - PA chief Mahmoud Abbas has asserted that he would soon meet with Israeli premier Ehud Olmert as the later voiced similar affirmation in an interview with the Hebrew radio.
The radio broadcast excerpts from the interview on Thursday in which Olmert stated his readiness to meet Abbas although he did not fix a date for such a meeting.
Abbas, for his part, stressed during his current visit to Doha that he would not meet PA premier Ismail Haneyya in the near future. He cancelled a few days ago a scheduled visit to Gaza on Tuesday.
Observers said that Olmert's declared preparedness to meet Abbas had followed the PA presidency's increasing pressures on the Hamas-led government to recognize Israel and its attempt to impede the discussions on the formation of the national unity government.
Meanwhile, Dr. Ghazi Hamad, the PA government spokesman, warned of a possible Abbas' step to dissolve the PLC, in which Hamas enjoys a majority, and call for early elections.
He said that such a step would only complicate the internal Palestinian conditions and would constitute a "coup" against the elected Palestinian government.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, PLO executive committee member and one of Abbas' close associates, had said on Wednesday that Abbas was thinking of dissolving the PLC and calling for parliamentary elections in the event the current Hamas-Fatah contacts failed to produce any positive result.
Palestinian sources opined that threats to dissolve the PLC were serious and that inner Fatah circles were preparing for such a step citing economic and security pretexts to sanction the step.
