Palestinian, Israeli leaders to resume talks

JERUSALEM (AP) -- Under U.S. pressure to answer increasing Arab flexibility on Mideast peace, Israel has agreed to resume face-to-face talks with a moderate, Western-backed Palestinian leader who is sharing power with Islamic Hamas militants, a U.S. official said Monday.
Also Monday, Israel welcomed the idea of a regional peace summit, although no such meeting is set, and Saudi Arabia suggested it would consider changes in a dormant peace initiative that could make it more acceptable to Israel.
The new developments came at a time of high-profile diplomacy, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and United Nations chief Ban Ki-Moon both in the region for talks with Israeli and Arab leaders.
Rice has been trying to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, with help from Arab neighbors. The odds were long even before the latest complication posed by Hamas, a political and military organization that Israel, the United States and the European Union count as a terror group.
A senior U.S. official said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to sit down with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas for the first time since Abbas sealed a desperation pact with the militants.
The two will hold "regular face-to-face discussions," said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of a planned address by Rice today.
The coalition government was formed more than a week ago under terms that fall short of international demands to recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept agreements negotiated by the previous, secular Palestinian leadership.
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