BEIT-UL-MOQADDAS (AFP) -- Israeli and Palestinian leaders held a new round of talks in Beit-ul-Moqaddas on Monday, but hopes of any breakthrough were dampened after Israel refused demands to release prisoners and lift roadblocks.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas were once again tackling the thorniest issues of the decades-long Mideast conflict as they seek to hammer out some sort of an agreement before a U.S.-sponsored peace conference expected in November.
But Olmert will not accede to two key Palestinian demands -- a release of prisoners to mark the Muslim holy month of Ramadan that begins this week and a lifting of roadblocks in the occupied West Bank, Israeli officials said.
""There won't be any prisoner release before Ramadan as was requested by Abbas during their last meeting,"" a senior official told AFP on condition of anonymity before the meeting.
And ""there won't be any discussions on removal of roadblocks. That's not on (the)... agenda.""
Releasing some of the more than 11,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and lifting some of the more than 500 West Bank roadblocks are two key issues for Abbas and he has lobbied for both measures in previous encounters.
In their third encounter in five weeks, Abbas and Olmert will first meet in the presence of their delegations and then hold a one-on-one session, a procedure which has become a hallmark of their encounters.
Their talks will focus on ""the core issues of the Middle East conflict, including refugees, Beit-ul-Moqaddas and borders,"" the Israeli official said.
While the Palestinians want a detailed agreement on core issues, the Israelis favor a more vague framework of principles.
""We do not want conferences that are merely aimed at public relations and photo ops, but rather at rebuilding trust in the peace process leading to the end of the Israeli occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel with its capital in east Beit-ul-Moqaddas,"" chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP.
The latest Abbas-Olmert meeting comes amid a flurry of diplomatic activity in the region, with Luis Amado, the foreign minister of Portugal which currently holds the rotating presidency of the European Union, and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner both in the region on Monday and Tuesday.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana came to the region last week, international Middle East Quartet envoy Tony Blair is in the midst of a two-week trip and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected next week, according to Palestinian officials.
On Tuesday, Abbas is to travel to Arab powerhouse Saudi Arabia, where he is expected to tell King Abdullah that he still backs a Saudi-sponsored power-sharing deal with Hamas, which collapsed when the Islamists seized control of Gaza in June, provided Hamas cedes control of the territory