(23 Mar 2008) SHOTLIST
++AUDIO AS INCOMING++
1. Wide of Palestinian and American flags
2. Wide of helicopter flying in to land
3. Wide, zoom in of US Vice President Dick Cheney being greeted by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and walking up red carpet
4. Cheney and Abbas shaking hands for photographers and walking up stairs
STORYLINE
Palestinian leaders, frustrated by the speed of peace talks and Israeli settlement activity, have low expectations for their meetings on Sunday with US Vice President Dick Cheney, a strong defender of Israel.
After holding talks with Israeli officials in Jerusalem, Cheney flew by helicopter to the West Bank to speak with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.
He was greeted by Abbas on a red carpet leading to the meeting site.
Aides to Abbas said the Palestinian president would tell Cheney that there's been little progress in the peace talks since he and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to restart them at the Mideast peace conference President Bush hosted in November in Annapolis.
Cheney began Easter Sunday with a prayer and the singing of "Amazing Grace" at a tiny chapel in Jerusalem, then launched into a day of talks about conflict: the Mideast peace process and the rising influence of Iran in the region.
Cheney is on a 10-day trip to the Mideast, where oil, the future of Iraq and Afghanistan and Iran's rising influence in the region have highlighted his talks with foreign leaders.
His visit here is part of the Bush administration's strategy to keep the pressure on Israel and the Palestinians to reach a framework agreement for peace before Bush leaves office in January 2009.
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