RAMALLAH, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is to start a regional tour of Syria and Saudi Arabia this week, his spokesman said Thursday.

    "Abbas will meet during the coming two days with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus before heading for Saudi Arabia to meet Saudi king Abdullah bin Abdulaziz," Abbas' spokesman Nabil Abu Rdineh told Xinhua.

    Abbas' visit aims at discussing the long-stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process and internal Palestinian feud which involves Abbas' Fatah party and Islamic Hamas movement, according to the spokesman.

    "Abbas will brief the Arab leaders on the results of his talks with U.S. President Barack Obama to crystallize a united Arab position facing the conditions Israeli prime minister set for peace," Abu Rdineh added, referring to the hawkish Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who put several preconditions for the creation of the Palestinian statehood.

    In his speech Sunday, Netanyahu said he will accept only a demilitarized Palestinian statehood after the Palestinians recognize Israel as the homeland of all Jews.

    His remarks, which also did not include a clear commitment to stop settlement in the West Bank, collide with Obama's call for freezing all Jewish settlement in the Palestinian territories and the resumption of the peace talks.

Special Report: Palestine-Israel Conflicts