TEL AVIV, Israel, July 6 (UPI) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he expects to meet Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon again before Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip.
In an interview with the London-based Asharq Alawsat newspaper, Abbas said preparations were under way for another meeting.
Sharon hosted Abbas on June 21 in Jerusalem and demanded the Palestinian Authority act more decisively against terror organizations. Abbas reportedly asked Israel to strengthen his hand so that he could act, the Haaretz newspaper reported.
Senior Palestinian sources later expressed deep disappointment over the meeting and Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei said it had fallen far short of Palestinian expectations.
Sharon Tuesday complained that Abbas had promised to arrest within 24 hours the man who sent a would-be female suicide bomber to Israel -- Israel had warned the Palestinians of the plan -- but the man disappeared and Sharon suspected he might have been tipped off.
