Olmert, Abbas Prepare For Peace Talks

TEL AVIV, Israel — Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas met in Jerusalem for the second time in a week to prepare for a new round of American diplomacy led by President Bush.

The one-on-one talks, announced only two hours ahead of time yesterday, come before Mr. Abbas heads to Washington this week for a meeting with Mr. Bush at the White House. Next month Mr. Bush travels to Israel for the country's 60th anniversary celebrations. When he visited in January, Bush said he's trying to "nudge" the two leaders to sign a peace agreement by the end of this year. "The purpose of the meeting is to enhance coordination" before Mr. Abbas meets Mr. Bush, a spokesman for Mr. Olmert, Mark Regev, said by phone from Jerusalem.

When Messrs. Olmert and Abbas held talks on April 7, they reaffirmed their commitment to work for a peace agreement before 2009, a goal they set at a summit meeting with Mr. Bush last year in Annapolis, Md.