Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday headed to the upcoming U.S.-hosted Mideast peace conference promising to «exert all efforts» to reach a deal with Israel. Israel and the Palestinians have been trying for months to hammer out a joint blueprint for peace to present to the conference, taking place this week in Washington and Annapolis, Maryland. «The positions with the Israelis before Annapolis are still far apart, and the negotiations are still ongoing,» Abbas said on the plane heading to the U.S. His quotes appeared Sunday in the Palestinian newspaper al-Ayyam. Despite the differences, Abbas said he was committed to doing everything possible to hammer out a peace agreement in the coming year. Both Israel and the U.S. have said they hope to reach a deal before President George W. Bush leaves office in January 2009. «We will exert all efforts to achieve peace within this period,» Abbas was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
