This article was originally published by Maan News and is republished with permission.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is concerned about the ambiguity surrounding plans for a US-convened international peace summit, the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported Thursday.

Abbas said that so far everything is unclear about the meeting, "which is called sometimes a meeting and sometimes it is called a conference. We have been told that the summit will be held in November, yet we have not been informed about the exact time or about who will partake in the summit. Most importantly, we do not know the content of the meeting and the expected results if there will be."

The proposed meeting, much vaunted by American and European officials, is supposed to convene in Washington, DC, at a date still to be determined.

Abbas said he has no better idea as to the specifics of the summit after meeting with the Prime Ministers of Britain, France, and Portugal in addition to the Quartet's Middle East Envoy, Tony Blair.

Widespread doubt

Abbas' remarks follow a chorus of skepticism about the conference emerging from the Arab states.

On Wednesday, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said the talks will be pointless if they did not address core "final status" issues, and set a timetable for the implementation of any agreement. He said Saudi participation in the conference now appears doubtful.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Sunday that the summit was doomed to fail without a specific specific agenda.

Abbas denies leaked 'statement of principles'

Speaking in Jordan Thursday, Abbas also denied news reports about an eight-point declaration of principles emerging from Monday's meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

"We only discussed the formation of a joint committee to deal with all the significant issues which we need to agree on at this stage," Abbas said.