Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas left Washington "upset, alarmed and disappointed" after his meeting with American President George W. Bush and American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, his aides told Reuters News Agency. President Bush has been pressuring Israel and the PA to work out by the end of the year an agreement for the final status of a new Arab state within Israel's current borders.
However, Abbas was left with the understanding that he will not receive the land that he wants and that the Arab population expects. Reuters quoted one aide as saying, "We heard from the Americans that Israel would not accept the return of Palestinian refugees, Jerusalem would be divided, Israel wants to annex settlement blocs, and so in short, what we are being offered is much less than the 1967 borders."