Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has invited the Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian leaders to a peace summit next week, Palestinian officials said Thursday. Mubarak has invited Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jordan's King Abdullah to the summit, to be held early next week in Egypt, said Abbas aides Saeb Erekat and Yasser Abed Rabbo. Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said nothing has been finalized, the Associated Press reported. At the meeting, Abbas will call for a resumption of peace talks with Israel, arguing that only progress toward Palestinian statehood can serve as a true buffer against Hamas, Erekat said. "The most important thing to realize is that time is of the essence," Erekat said. "We need to deliver the end of occupation, a Palestinian state. If we don't have hope, Hamas will export despair to the people."
