Veteran Israeli politician Shimon Peres held a secret meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jordan on Sunday, Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz reported Monday.

Peres, the No. 2 candidate of the centrist Kadima party that is leading in public polls in the run-up of a March 28 election, met Abbas before the Palestinian leader left for Europe on a tour to appeal for continual European aid to the Palestinians, said the report, citing confirmation of the meeting from Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's Office.

According to the Olmert's office, Peres and Abbas only discussed economic issues during Sunday's brief meeting in Amman, capital of Jordan.

A senior government source said on Monday that the meeting was not a political one.

"They discussed building a special emergency fund for humanitarian aid for the Palestinian population," said the source.

It was the first meeting between leading political figures from Israel and the Palestinians after Hamas came into power following its landslide election win in January.

Olmert, who is leading the Kadima to the March 28 polls, has said that he had no plan of himself meeting Abbas after Hamas' win.

Peres on March 7 urged Israel to support Abbas, even though the Palestinian government is to be dominated by Hamas.

Peres said then that abandoning Abbas would leave the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in the hands of extremists.

Hamas makes no change of its charter calling for Israel's destruction and is expected to form a new government within the deadline of March 28, which coincides with Israel's general election.

Abbas, whose Fatah movement was defeated by Hamas, has said that he might maintain control of contacts with Israel while Hamas leads the new government.

Editor: Yan