Abbas to US: Help in Settlement Dispute09/07 05:31

   RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said he has 
asked the U.S. to settle a dispute with Israel over settlement expansion that 
is threatening to derail Mideast peace talks.

   Israel's 10-month partial freeze on new construction in West Bank 
settlements ends Sept. 26, and Israeli officials have indicated they will not 
extend the freeze as is. Abbas has said he'll quit peace talks with Israel 
unless the restrictions remain in place.

   Abbas said late Monday that he has asked the U.S. "to intervene in the 
settlement issue."

   The Obama administration has promised an active role in the talks, Abbas 
told reporters accompanying him on his way back from Washington, where talks 
were launched last week after a hiatus of nearly two years.

   "The U.S. will be present at the negotiations, not necessarily behind closed 
doors, but (U.S. mediators) can be inside the room, or outside," Abbas said.

   Settlements take up land the Palestinians want for a state, and Abbas views 
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision on the freeze as a test of 
his intentions.

   Abbas and Netanyahu will meet twice next week, first in the Egyptian resort 
of Sharm el-Sheik and then in Jerusalem.

   U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will attend the Jerusalem 
meeting.


(KA)