No agreement has been reached with Abbas

      The prime minister Ehud Olmert told the cabinet that "any solution that will be reached will be dependent on the implementation of the road map principles with an emphasis on the order of action it calls for, which is of special importance." The road map lays out a three-stage program for establishing a Palestinian state, and states that in the first stage, the Palestinian Authority must wage war on terrorism and reform PA institutions, while Israel must remove all illegal outposts established in the West Bank since 2001. Also, Ehud Olmert said at the start of Sunday's cabinet meeting that he and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas did not come to any conclusions during their meeting last week, meant to jump start negotiations before a Middle East peace conference scheduled for next month. "There were no agreements or understandings between me and Abu Mazen," he said, referring to Abbas. Olmert also said that, during the meeting, the two "surveyed the problems and the central issues that are the basis for negotiations that will lead to two states for two peoples." (17,25)