Abbas sends team to U.S. to narrow conference gaps

By Wafa Amr

RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dispatched top aides to Washington on Sunday to try to narrow differences with Israel and ensure wide Arab participation in a U.S.-led peace conference.

Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert plan to meet on Monday in Jerusalem for the last time before attending the conference on Palestinian statehood, which senior officials expect to convene in Annapolis, Maryland, on November 26-27.

The U.S. government has been pressing Israel to go beyond a suggested partial West Bank settlement freeze and to increase the number of Palestinian prisoners it has offered to release before the conference, Israeli and Western officials said.

Preparations have also been marred by disputes over a joint document meant to address in general terms issues such as borders, and the future of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.

U.S. and Israeli officials have said a joint document is not a precondition for holding the Annapolis conference on schedule. They stressed the centerpiece of the gathering would instead be an agreement to resume formal statehood negotiations.

Palestinian officials suggested reaching an agreement on the joint document was key to ensuring the participation of key Arab states such as Saudi Arabia.

Abbas sent a team led by Yasser Abed Rabbo to Washington ahead of a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers on Thursday. Palestinian officials said Arab states would decide then whether to attend the conference.

U.S. President George W. Bush called for the conference to bolster Abbas and the long-stalled peace process after Hamas Islamists seized the Gaza Strip in June. The Bush administration may also be seeking to boost its own legacy after the Iraq war.