Abbas calls for int'l conference on conflict

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that an international conference should be called immediately for direct negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel. Abbas said in a speech in Oslo that an international group should serve as a broker, possibly the so-called "Quartet" of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations. "An international conference should be summoned immediately, in which direct negotiations take place, on the basis of international UN resolutions and signed agreements," Abbas said through a translator.