Abbas Says 'Urgent' Need for UN Resolution on Israeli Settlements

Speaking in an interview with AFP, Abbas criticized what he said was insufficient action from US President Barack Obama's administration while also firmly backing a French initiative to hold an international peace conference this summer.

Abbas spoke ahead of a tour beginning Tuesday that will take him to Turkey, France, Russia, Germany and New York, where the Palestinians are discussing a UN draft resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The trip comes with the clock ticking for both the 81-year-old and the Obama administration, with speculation the US president could change tack and support a resolution on the peace process before he leaves office in January.

"The Security Council is a very important subject because it has now become urgent due to settlement activities and because Israel has not stopped these activities," Abbas said late Monday at his office in Ramallah.

Settlement construction in the West Bank "is something that has seriously jeopardized the two-state project."

The United States has repeatedly vetoed resolutions opposed by Israel at the UN Security Council, but the Palestinians are hoping for a change of heart.

"So far, we have not got any reaction from the Americans regarding the Security Council," said Abbas.

He criticized US efforts so far.

"We were expecting from the US administration over the past eight years that it would take positive steps forward to achieve what America believes in, which is the two-state vision," he said.

"Until now, it hasn't happened from the US administration."

Asked whether he was disappointed, he said: "We do not want to use this expression, but we are saying that we were expecting a lot from the US administration and it never happened."

Abbas' two-week tour starts with a summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Istanbul and ends in New York.

For Abbas and the international community, Israel's continued settlement building in the West Bank is one area of agreement.

Such settlements are considered illegal under international law and are seen as major stumbling blocks to peace efforts since they are built on land the Palestinians see as part of their future state.

Abbas said his trip will promote two main projects, which he sees as complementary: a UN resolution condemning the settlements and the French peace initiative.

The Palestinians count France among their strongest supporters in the West and Abbas will meet French President Francois Hollande on Friday.

Former French foreign minister Laurent Fabius had previously alarmed Israel by saying Paris would recognize a Palestinian state if its initiative failed.

Hollande's administration has since backed away from the claim.

"What is important is to hear from the (French) president if those ideas have turned into a French initiative that the French government will stick by until the end," Abbas said.