(Adds Arab League comments) By Wafa Amr RAMALLAH, West Bank, Sept 18 (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is under pressure from his Fatah faction not to attend a U.S.-led Middle East conference, aides said on Tuesday, citing uncertainty over its participants and outcome. But the aides said Abbas believes preparations for the gathering, expected around mid-November, must continue. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives on Wednesday for talks with Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Olmert, who has met regularly with Abbas in a bid to find common ground ahead of the conference on Palestinian statehood, has sought to lower expectations, saying Israel wanted a joint declaration out of the deliberations rather than a binding deal. Abbas is seeking a more explicit "framework agreement" with a timeline for implementation on the core "final-status" issues of borders, Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees. His aides said Fatah, which holds sway only in the West Bank after Hamas Islamists took control of the Gaza Strip in June, is pressing Abbas to skip the meeting unless achievements and wide international participation are assured. "We can live without a conference, but we cannot live with a conference that fails," one aide said. Azzam al-Ahmad, a senior Fatah official, said Palestinians should not participate in a meeting that does not include "all concerned Arab parties", naming Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. "There must be political substance to the meeting and a clear agenda, with clear outcomes concerning final-status," Ahmad said. The internal pressure on Abbas represents another challenge for Rice, who will try to spur the Palestinian leader and Olmert to narrow their differences in time for a gathering whose goals are still unclear. Palestinian officials have raised the possibility the conference could be postponed if there was no meeting of minds. "GIMMICKS" U.S. officials said Rice wants to see a commitment they can deliver enough at the conference to draw in key regional player Saudi Arabia, which has put Washington on notice it is not interested in coming unless substantive issues are addressed. Arab diplomats have accused the U.S. administration of inadequately preparing for the conference and suggested its aim will be only to create the illusion of progress toward peace. "The conference should not be just one of those meetings for a handshake and a final communique that reflects general positions. We need specifics," Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa told Reuters at his Cairo headquarters. "This time if it is only gimmicks, we are not interested." Speaking to foreign reporters in Jerusalem, Israeli President Shimon Peres said relations between Abbas and Olmert were "in very good shape", but "that does not mean they have concluded the main problems. "I believe while not all problems are solved and not all roads clear, by and large the chances to conclude a process of peace are higher than ever," Peres said. "There is a window of opportunity, and I say smilingly, the window is made of glass and we have to be careful not to break it," he said. Even if the conference goes ahead and leads to a peace breakthrough, it is unclear how Abbas would impose any deal on the Palestinian side now that Hamas controls Gaza. The militant group has spurned Western calls to recognise Israel. Olmert also has been weakened politically since last year's war in Lebanon, raising doubts over his ability to deliver any peace promises. (Additional reporting by Rebecca Harrison in Jerusalem, Sue Pleming in Washington and Jonathan Wright and Alaa Shahine in Cairo)
