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U.S. said to be planning Mideast peace summit

JERUSALEM, April 25 (UPI) -- The United States is planning a Middle East summit in Washington in June to push the Israeli-Palestinian peace process forward, officials said.

Unidentified sources in the United States said U.S. President Barack Obama will preside over the meeting in which Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Jordan's King Abdullah will participate, Haaretz reported Thursday.

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The sources told the newspaper it is possible Egyptian and Turkish leaders will be invited, as well as leaders of other Arab countries.

The report said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry discussed the meeting during his recent visit to Istanbul where he met with Abbas and Egyptian and Turkish foreign ministers.

It is unclear whether the summit will take place if Kerry fails to make a breakthrough with Abbas, whom he has met five times to persuade him to drop preconditions for talks with Israel to resume.

"We have two or three weeks left to see if this thing is doable," one source told the newspaper. "The Americans believe it is -- but they may be naive."

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There has been no official comment on the report by the involved parties.

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