BERLIN (AFP) -- Berlin will host an international conference on assistance to the Palestinian police and judiciary at the start of June, a German foreign ministry spokesman said.

According to a statement from the ministry, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has welcomed the idea of the conference, which will look at ways to help authorities in the Palestinian territories prepare themselves for statehood.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel will open the conference to help establish the rule of law in the Palestinian territories. Foreign ministers from Europe, the United States and Russia and UN and Arab delegates are invited.
Merkel is due to visit Israel today and on Friday she talked to Abbas by telephone. The Palestinian leader briefed her on the state of the peace process between his authority and the Israeli government, the ministry said.
Abbas ""asked the chancellor to bring up with Israel the question of Jewish settlement building, which considerably complicates bilateral negotiations and the application of the 'road map',"" according to the statement.
The so-called road map was drawn up by Israel and the Palestinians under the auspices of the Quartet -- the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia -- as a guide towards a two-state solution to their crisis.
It forsees an end to Israeli raids and settlement building on Palestinian land, but has seen scant progress since it was drawn up in 2003 amid ongoing violence.
The peace process was further complicated when the radical Islamist group Hamas seized control of the Gaza Strip after fighting with Abbas' Fatah movement. Hamas and Israel do not recognize each other.
Merkel in turn promised to brief Abbas on her return from the visit, which will be a first of its kind to involve several senior German ministers taking part in direct intergovernmental discussions, the statement continued.
The chancellor will become the first German leader to address the Israeli parliament, the Knesset.