American State Department spokesman Sean McCormack denied statements by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the Palestinian Authority (PA) that the planned Annapolis, Maryland conference will definitely take place in November. Asked at the daily press briefing about the reports, McCormack said, "[That's] news to me. We don't have any travel on the books at this point. As for the invitations, everybody stay tuned. It is not lost in the mail. They have not yet been issued."
He also said that American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice would not fly again to the Middle East just to issue invitations. He added, "I would expect that when the invitations are issued that we will get a positive response."