President Mahmoud Abbas met with US Secretary of State Condeleezza Rice on Sunday in Ramallah in preparation for the trilateral meeting between Abbas, Rice and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert scheduled for today. Rice also met separately with Olmert yesterday in Jerusalem to discuss the prospects of today’s meeting.

While no press conferences were held after Rice’s meetings with the two leaders, it was clear that the players discussed ways in which to revive the roadmap and hence, the faltering peace process in addition to the ramifications of the newly signed Mecca Agreement between Hamas and Fateh. The United States has so far reserved judgment on the future Palestinian government but has made it clear that it expects the new national unity government to adhere to the Quartet Committee conditions, which Hamas has previously rejected, namely, recognition of Israel, renunciation of violence and honoring of previously signed agreements with Israel.

On his part, President Abbas highlighted the positive developments in the Palestinian arena, namely the signing of the Mecca Agreement last month between Hamas and Fateh, which has largely put a halt to the infighting that has plagued the Palestinian territories for the past few months. He also stressed in his meeting with Rice that, as part of the agreement, Hamas has agreed to honor the decisions of the Palestine National Council, which include the Oslo Accords and recognition of Israel.

During his meeting with the Secretary of State, Olmert reiterated Israel’s stance on the future Palestinian government, saying his country would not deal with it unless it adhered to the Quartet conditions, which he places as a key prerequisite to any move forward in the peace process.

While Rice did not offer any binding commitments to the new government, she did deny previous claims by Olmert that President George W. Bush had expressed his agreement to boycott the future Palestinian government alongside Israel.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh continued consultations over the formation of the new national unity government today in Gaza. Hamas spokesperson Ismail Radwan said the formation of the government would be announced sooner than expected, most likely in the next two to five weeks. While not all of the ministerial portfolios have been distributed, there is a general agreement among the Palestinian factions that the new foreign minister will be an independent while the information ministry will be allocated to one of the smaller factions.

The three-way meeting being held today in Jerusalem will be concluded with a press statement by Rice but with no statements by Olmert or Abbas.