Quds city, October 03, SPA -- Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday began discussions on reaching a joint vision of Mideast peace in time for next month's U.S.-sponsored Mideast conference. In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, eight Palestinians were killed in new violence. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hope to present a document at the November conference outlining a common vision for a future peace deal. Olmert and Abbas have held a series of meetings in recent months aimed at reviving peace efforts. But with negotiating teams joining the leaders, Wednesday's meeting was expected to be the first working session on the outline agreement. The meeting got under way at noon (1000 GMT) at Olmert's official residence in Jerusalem. «The prime minister looks forward to another chance for constructive dialogue with the Palestinian leader and he will make every effort to achieve progress in the time period before the upcoming international meeting,» the Associated Press quoted David Baker, an Israeli government spokesman as saying. Olmert and Abbas already have offered vastly different visions of the final document. The Palestinians want a detailed agreement outlining a final peace settlement. Olmert is pushing for a vague declaration of «intent.» The sides appear to have deep differences on important issues, including the borders of a Palestinian state, control of disputed Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees. The Palestinians have been drafting a proposed outline of a peace deal to present to Olmert. According to a copy obtained by The Associated Press earlier this week, the Palestinians are ready to swap some West Bank land with Israel and limit the number of Palestinian refugees returning to their homes in the Jewish state, but also demand the return of all areas of Jerusalem captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war. Palestinian officials said the leaders have already exchanged ideas about a land swap.
