JERUSALEM &#8212 The Palestinian president and the Israeli prime minister are to meet early next week in Jerusalem ahead of an expected visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and key meetings of international mediators, officials said Saturday.

Palestinian officials said Mahmoud Abbas and Ehud Olmert would meet today, although David Baker, an official in Olmert’s office, said the date was not finalized.

The two leaders have been meeting regularly as part of a U.S.-backed effort to revive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking and convene an international peace conference expected in November in Washington.

In preparation, the “Quartet” of Mideast mediators – the United States, the European Union, Russi and the United Nations – is to convene in Washington toward the end of September and meet members of an Arab League committee promoting a pan-Arab plan for peace with Israel.

Senior diplomats say a conference must produce tangible results and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Saturday asked the U.S. government to be painstaking in its preparations.