U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has welcomed the setting of a date for Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and a few West Bank settlements. The August 15 date was announced after a meeting yesterday between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Annan "looks forward to evaluating the situation at the meeting of the Quartet in London later this week," said U.N. deputy spokeswoman Marie Okabe, referring to the group focused on Israeli-Palestinian peace comprised by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations, and Russia.