Abbas to Press Obama on Israeli Settlements, Palestinian State
By VOA News
28 May 2009
U.S. President Barack Obama is meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as the Israeli government rebuffs U.S. and Palestinian calls to stop its settlement activity.
Mr. Abbas was expected to urge Mr. Obama to press Israel on that issue, as well as the creation of a separate Palestinian state alongside Israel during talks at the White House Thursday.
Earlier Thursday, Israel's government dismissed U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's call to freeze all settlement construction in the West Bank, without exception.
Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev says Israel will abide by its commitments to dismantle unauthorized outposts and not build new settlements. But he says construction must be allowed to continue in existing settlements to accommodate population growth.
President Abbas has said he will not resume peace talks with Israel until it stops settlement activity and accepts a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
President Obama and other world leaders also have voiced support for a two-state solution.
During last week's meeting at the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Mr. Obama he is committed to relaunching peace talks. But he failed to publicly support the creation of a separate Palestinian state or to freeze settlement construction.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.
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