(Adds comment by U.S. State Department spokesman) By Wafa Amr RAMALLAH, West Bank, Nov 20 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush issued formal invitations on Tuesday to the Middle East peace conference in Annapolis next week, Palestinian and Israeli officials said. The Nov. 27 conference in Annapolis, Maryland is intended to relaunch negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians with a view to reaching an agreement on establishing a Palestinian state, possibly before Bush steps down in 14 months. But officials from the two sides and U.S. diplomats working closely with them have yet to produce even an agreement on roughly how such negotiations, the first in seven years, are likely to proceed following the conference next Tuesday. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will attend, along with representatives of other governments. U.S. officials are still trying to persuade Arab states, including Saudi Arabia and Syria which have no formal ties with Israel, to send delegates. Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdainah pre-empted an expected formal announcement from Washington by saying that the Palestinian leader had received his invitation from Bush. Olmert's spokeswoman also said an invitation was received. In addition to the one-day meeting at the waterfront U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, there are expected to be talks in Washington the day before and the day after, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington. Negotiators drafting a joint document on how peace talks might move forward will continue working until one was ready. "They are converging on an agreement about a document," McCormack told reporters. Some negotiators have expressed scepticism that even a broad outline of the future path of negotiations could be agreed but on Tuesday officials said some form of joint document was likely to be presented at the meeting in Annapolis, near Washington. Abbas is pushing for a clear deadline for establishing a Palestinian state while Israel says any final deal must be conditional on guarantees of security for the Jewish state. ROAD MAP Both sides have reaffirmed their commitments to the 2003 "road map" for peace sponsored by Washington, which obliges Palestinians to act immediately to rein in militants who attack Israel and Israel to stop Jewish settlement in the West Bank. Annapolis is likely to see more affirmations of those goals, although Israel remains sceptical of Abbas's ability to provide security -- notably since his forces lost control of the Gaza Strip in June to the Hamas Islamist movement. Palestinians say Israel's occupation undermines efforts to establish order and complain that settlement activity is continuing apace. The joint document negotiators are working on is intended to address in general terms "core" issues for a peace treaty, such as borders, and the future of Jerusalem and millions of Palestinian refugees, without offering any specific solutions. Washington has been pushing hard for an agreement on a paper, seeking to ensure the participation in Annapolis of key Arab states, including Saudi Arabia. Arab foreign ministers will meet in Cairo starting Thursday to consider a joint position with Abbas. Wider Arab support will give Abbas some cover from his Palestinian critics like Hamas. Hope of improved relations with Arab states is one of the key incentives for Israel to negotiate. Olmert travelled to the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh on Tuesday for talks with President Hosni Mubarak. Like Bush and Abbas, Olmert has been weakened politically. He faces police investigations over alleged corruption, which he has denied, and the results before the end of the year of an official inquiry into his handling of the 2006 Lebanon war. (Writing by Alastair Macdonald in Jerusalem; additional reporting by Adam Entous in Jerusalem, Ari Rabinovitch in Sharm el-Sheikh and Arshad Mohammed and Sue Pleming in Washington)
