Olmert seeks Palestinian state deal

JERUSALEM, July 25 (UPI) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Wednesday he plans to discuss the formation of a Palestinian state with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.

Olmert said no timetable has been set for negotiations but he doesn't plan to wait for visits from the Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers to pursue the peace process, Haaretz reported Wednesday.

"I resolve to create a track that will allow me to hold serious discussions with Abu Mazen," Olmert said at a news conference with Israeli President Shimon Peres, referring to Abbas.

"I want to start a political process with all my might and to let things move forward. If it is appropriate for other states to help, like Saudi Arabia or the United Arab Emirates, we will welcome it, but we won't wait for them and sit inactively in order to start the process. We are the ones to lead and the ones to initiate, because we believe that progress on the peace process serves the interests of Israel," he said in the Haaretz report.