Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas says Mideast peace talks should resume immediately after Israel completes its Gaza withdrawal and is hopeful an independent Palestinian state will be established by next year. "We live in hope," Abbas told The Associated Press. "And we hope that a Palestinian state can be achieved next year, God willing. What is important is to have the state." In a wide-ranging interview Saturday, Abbas also pledged to bring diverse militias from the ruling Fatah movement under central control within three weeks. He said the U.S. has assured him that peace negotiations with Israel can resume as soon as Israel completes its withdrawal from Gaza, expected by Sept. 15. Israel has already evacuated some 9,000 Jewish settlers from Gaza and four isolated West Bank enclaves. U.S. Embassy spokesman Stewart Tuttle said Washington sees the Israeli withdrawal "as an opportunity to re-energize the road map," referring to an internationally-backed peace plan that calls for the creation of a Palestinian state. But he said he had no information about a specific timetable.
