Abbas presses U.S. to soften stance on unity deal
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RAMALLAH, West Bank  - President Mahmoud Abbas appealed to Washington on Saturday to soften objections to his Palestinian unity government with Hamas, telling a top envoy he had cut the best deal he could, aides said.
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President Bush will meet Palestinian   President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday in New York to push   forward peace talks but rejects Abbas's planned unity   government with Hamas, a Palestinian official said.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank  - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice sought explanations on Sunday from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas about a unity government that both Washington and Israel say they intend to shun.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will demand Israel commit to a freeze on all settlement construction at a peace summit Thursday, the first since the two sides agreed to resume peace talks at a U.S.-sponsored conference last month.
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Palestinian leaders urged the world on   Tuesday to accept a planned unity government they hope will   lead to the lifting of an aid embargo on the Hamas   administration.
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Israelis and Palestinians needed to cool down their conflict to take advantage of emerging prospects for peace, Mahmoud Abbas, the new Palestinian leader, said yesterday.
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U.S. President George W. Bush, hardening his tone towards Israel on Thursday, urged an end to "the occupation" of the West Bank and pushed for a peace treaty to be signed within a year to create a Palestinian state.
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Hamas said on Wednesday its agreement to   form a Palestinian unity government should not be seen as a   softening in the Islamic group's position toward Israel.
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JERICHO, West Bank -- Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority president, told Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday that his long struggle to replace the Hamas-led government with a more moderate coalition had reached a "dead end," complicating the goal of renewed peace talks with Israel.
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Israel will not stand in the way of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas taking control of Gaza's breached border with Egypt as part of a deal to sideline Hamas Islamists who rule the enclave, officials said on Tuesday.
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Palestinian leaders urged the   international community on Tuesday to accept a planned unity   government they hope will lead to the lifting of an aid embargo   on the Hamas administration.
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NEW YORK, Sept. 18 -- The United States and Israel sought Monday to shore up a sometimes strained relationship with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who is trying to form a working alliance with Hamas officials who refuse to recognize the Israeli government.
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U.S. demands that a new Palestinian government recognize Israel have forced moderate President Mahmoud Abbas and the militant group Hamas to delay talks on forming a coalition, Palestinian officials said Sunday.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank  - The Palestinian Authority  on Friday rejected Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new  and seemingly softer terms for restarting peace talks, saying  he should drop all conditions for dialogue.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday he would ask President George W. Bush, who visits the Middle East this week, to curb Israel's West Bank settlements for the sake of peace.
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday his agreement with the ruling Hamas militant group on forming a more moderate coalition government was off.
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Hamas said on Tuesday it still hoped Washington would soften its position toward a Palestinian unity government following talks U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.