RAMALLAH, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian official on Sunday ruled out holding a meeting with Israeli officials on the sidelines of U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to the region next month.
"There are no preparations for a three-way meeting," said Saeb Erekat, senior Palestinian negotiator.
"We were only told that Obama will visit the region in March and the reports about summits and new ideas and initiatives are journalistic analysis," Erekat said.
The White House announced earlier this month that Obama would visit Israel, the Palestinian territories and Jordan in the spring as his first trip since re-election.
Israel's outgoing Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said Saturday that Obama might meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas together. He added that King Abdullah II of Jordan might also join the meeting, which will focus on reviving the peace process.
Erekat said that the Palestinians hope that the Obama administration would oblige Netanyahu to accept the two-state solution "as the basis of any negotiations," stressing that Israel should suspend settlement expansions in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.
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