Olmert seeks to rein in expectations for peace moves

JERUSALEM, Sep 4 (Reuters) Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will seek to lower expectations for sweeping, rapid-fire breakthroughs on Palestinian statehood in talks with visiting envoys starting today, officials said.

Tony Blair began a nearly 10-day visit as West Asia envoy for the Quartet of West Asia mediators in which he will press for details about what Israel would be prepared to do to bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of a US-sponsored conference in November, diplomats said.

Olmert will meet privately with Blair today night.

Olmert's top aides will also meet starting tomorrow with Assistant U.S. Secretary of State David Welch, who is pushing to narrow differences between the parties over the scope of a proposed agreement on statehood principles that could be launched at the conference.

''We are trying to present realistic goals,'' a senior Israeli government official said ahead of the Welch talks, which will lay the groundwork for a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in mid-September.

Israeli officials say Washington is pushing hard for progress before US President George W Bush leaves office in less than a year and a half.

Olmert is seeking a broadbrush ''declaration of principles'' in time for the November conference, whereas Abbas wants a more explicit ''framework'' agreement with a timeline for implementation on the core issues of borders, Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.

Abbas said today ''vague'' agreements threatened to turn the conference into a ''huge failure''. He proposed that Syria participate despite tensions with Israel and the United States.

AVOIDING EMBARRASSMENT Mark Regev, Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman, said it was unrealistic to expect all problems could be solved in just a few months.

''That does not mean that significant progress is unattainable,'' Regev said.

Olmert said yesterday he was not sure he would be able to reach a deal in time for the US-sponsored conference, expected to be held in the Washington, DC, area in mid-to-late November.

But three senior Israeli officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said some sort of agreement was likely because of US pressure to avoid embarrassment at the conference.

''He (Olmert) will reach an agreement with Abbas. The only question is over what,'' one of the officials said, adding: ''The gaps are still pretty wide.'' Another senior Israeli official said the main difference for now was the scope of the deal: ''We're saying, 'Let's build capacity for statehood and go forward from there,' and the Palestinians are saying, 'Let's define statehood and we'll then we'll see if we can rule.''' The senior official said Olmert's message would be: ''Let's go forward steadily without skipping stages. You cannot skip to the end in this case. It's not going to resolve anything and it could actually make things worse.'' ''You can't rush to something substantial right away.'' REUTERS PD KP1842