Quds/Ramallah, June 29, SPA -- Israel denied Sunday reports that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are to meet in Washington next month for bilateral talks on a peace treaty between the sides, according to dpa. "This is not true. It is not known to us," Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ariye Dekel said of the statements Saturday by former Palestinian premier Ahmed Qureia, that the sides plan to hold three negotiating sessions in the US capital. Qureia, who heads the Palestinian team in the talks, did not give a date when the talks are to take place. Qureia and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni have been holding regular negotiating sessions in an attempt to hammer out a final deal between the sides. The talks, which resumed at around the end of the year, are being conducted amid a virtual media blackout, with few concrete reports on their progress. But both Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said they hoped to reach some sort of deal by the end of the year.
