Abbas doubts deal with Israel possible this year

By Wafa Amr

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday he was uncertain after talks in Washington this week that a peace deal with Israel was possible this year, but vowed to pursue negotiations.

"The gaps between us and Israel on final status issues are wide. Will we reach a deal by the end of the year? I don't know, we will see," he said in an interview as he flew from Washington to Sharm el-Sheikh for talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

"But my option is to negotiate. I will continue to negotiate until the very end," Abbas said, after aides said he had been disappointed by his talks with U.S. officials.

He said an agreement was possible only if Israel adopted "more realistic positions" in the negotiations. He added that, if no deal was reached, the Palestinians would find themselves in a difficult position and he would coordinate his next move with the Arabs and fellow Palestinian leaders.

Abbas said President George W. Bush assured him on Thursday the United States would be more involved in the coming months to try to bridge the gap.

Bush, due to visit Israel next month, sponsored a new round of talks starting in Annapolis in November and has set a goal of a Middle East peace accord before he steps down in January.

Abbas said he told Bush and other senior U.S. officials that he did not want them to present their own compromise document in the event of the two sides failing to clinch a deal.

Palestinian aides said Abbas did not want a repetition of the Camp David talks in 2000, hosted by President Bill Clinton, which brought together Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak.