Palestinian leader calls off meeting
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas canceled a meeting with Ehud Olmert planned for today, saying the Israeli prime minister had failed to accept any of his suggestions for reducing tensions, such as renewing a cease-fire and releasing frozen tax revenue.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Ziad abu Amr said Abbas and Olmert were likely, however, to meet later this month in Egypt.
A five-month truce in the Gaza Strip collapsed last month when militants with the fundamentalist Islamic group Hamas began firing rockets into southern Israel. More than 60 Palestinians, most of them militants, and two Israeli civilians have been killed.
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