RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas left the West Bank on Friday for top-level meetings in Cairo and Amman as part of a brief regional tour, a source in his office said. Abbas is scheduled to meet President Hosni Mubarak on Saturday before heading to Amman to meet King Abdullah II of Jordan on Sunday. The visit comes amid a new round of cross-party Palestinian talks aimed at finding a common approach to solving a political and financial crisis that has swept the West Bank and Gaza Strip since Hamas won January elections. If the meetings fail, Abbas will submit to a referendum a statehood document seeking to end the crisis and implying implicit recognition of Israel. He has already given the order for such a vote to be held on July 26. Hamas formed a new government in March and has so far rejected Western demands that it renounce violence and recognize Israel and past peace deals, prompting the European Union and the United States to suspend direct aid. AFP
Palestinian president heads to Egypt, Jordan
