Abbas to push Olmert on settlements

Occupied Jerusalem: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will press Israel's prime minister on Tuesday to halt settlements ahead of a visit from US President George W. Bush.

Abbas, Israel's Ehud Olmert and their top negotiators will meet to try to get peace talks back on course a day before Bush begins his presidential visit to the Middle East.

The Palestinians will push Israel to halt settlement activity and stop a stepped-up campaign of military incursions into the Gaza Strip and in occupied West Bank.

"The president will raise the recent military escalation and incursions into Gaza and Nablus ... and also the settlement activities," said Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat.

Olmert last week ordered a stop to new Israeli projects in the occupied West Bank, but has not called off plans to build hundreds of new homes east of Occupied Jerusalem.

Israel also vowed to keep up raids in the Palestinian territories until Abbas proved he was reining in militants—a demand by Israel as a prerequisite for peace.

"We cannot allow a security vacuum, and we will be telling the Palestinian leadership they must do more," said Olmert's spokesman Mark Regev.