Abbas hopes to meet Olmert before year end

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Dec 21 (Reuters) Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas today said he hoped to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert before the end of the year as both leaders push to resume long-stalled peace talks.

Olmert told reporters this week a meeting would take place ''very soon'' but gave no details. Abbas, following a meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, was more explicit.

''We are not revealing a secret when we say that we hope the meeting with Olmert will take place before the end of this year,'' he told reporters.

If a meeting does take place, it would be the first between the two since Olmert assumed power in January after then Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke.

Repeated attempts to organise a meeting have failed amid surges in violence.

The latest push followed a call by Abbas for early legislative and presidential elections after his Fatah faction and the governing Hamas failed to forge a national unity government aimed at lifting Western sanctions.

Olmert has repeatedly said he is ready to meet the moderate Abbas, even though the Palestinian government is led by the Islamist Hamas group, which advocates Israel's destruction.

In an effort to bolster Abbas ahead of any poll, Israel is considering handing over millions of dollars in withheld Palestinian taxes to the president, sources said yesterday.

Transferring the funds, which total about 500 million dollars, would mark a shift in Israeli policy, and could allow Abbas to make payments to Palestinian civil servants, who have not received their full salaries since Hamas came to power in March.

CONTINUED ROCKET FIRE Since a truce was announced on November 26, following a five-month Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian militants have fired dozens of rockets at Israel.

Israel has killed seven Palestinians, including one militant. The latest victim, a 20-year-old man died today of wounds suffered last week, medics said.

Israeli media quoted officials in Olmert's office as sending a message to Abbas saying if rocket fire continued Israel would have no option but to respond.

An Israeli official told Reuters: ''Israel is following a policy of restraint, but these rocket attacks must stop.'' Three Palestinians were wounded today when a makeshift rocket fired by militants at Israel malfunctioned and hit a house in Beit Hanoun, in the northern part of the territory, hospital officials said, adding the injuries were not life-threatening.

An Israeli army spokesman said 11 rockets were fired at Israel in the past 24-hours, but caused no injuries or damage.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz was holding consultations with security chiefs today over the policy of restraint, Israeli media reported.

Abu Abdallah, spokesman for Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Gaza, a militant group part of Abbas's Fatah faction called on Palestinian groups to maintain the shaky truce.

''We urge all the parties to be responsible towards the interests of the Palestinian people and remain committed to the agreement for calm,'' he said.

Reuters SY DB2315