Gaza tops agenda as Abbas arrives in US

President Mahmoud Abbas arrived in the United States on Tuesday with two goals, ending the siege on Gaza and moving the peace process forward, PLO Secretary-General Yasser Abed Rabbo said.

Abed Rabbo told Palestine TV that the president and his delegation would meet Senator John Kerry and leaders of the American Jewish and pro-Israel lobby in the US in addition to the main meeting with US President Barack Obama.

"This round of negotiations provides an 11th-hour opportunity to achieve a permanent and lasting peace based on the two-state solution," Abbas wrote in an op-ed ahead of his visit to the US.

"Despite the harsh realities imposed upon us, the Palestinian side intends to negotiate in good faith in order to end the state of conflict that has plagued our region," he added. "Achieving peace and coexistence between Palestinians and Israelis has been my lifelong commitment."

Despite that Palestinian Authority leaders rarely criticize Obama in public, officials say behind the scenes that they are disappointed in what they call his "weak" stance toward Israel's rightist government. The US administration is particularly unpopular in Israel, however, for entirely different reasons, namely Obama's purported stance against the settlements that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vows to keep building.

The official PA news agency WAFA reported that Abbas would meet with Obama at 6pm Jerusalem time. The two will discuss developments in the Middle East and efforts toward a two-state solution to the Palestinian struggle for self-determination.

Abbas arrived in Washington on Tuesday and met with liberal Canadian MP Bob Rae, updating him on the latest developments in the region following the Israeli naval raid on the Freedom Flotilla, which left nine passengers dead. Israel says the violence was provoked by activist on board, a charge they deny.

Netanyahu is to meet Obama later this month, Agence France-Presse reported Wednesday. Netanyahu abruptly postponed planned White House talks after last week's deadly assault.