Abbas,Olmert agree to get talks moving for Bush visit

By Adam Entous

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed on Tuesday, on the eve of a visit by President George W. Bush, to get peace talks moving despite major differences over Jewish settlement construction near Jerusalem.

Announcing the results of a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Olmert's spokesman said the two men authorized their teams to conduct "direct and ongoing negotiations" on all core issues.

"We expect that to start expeditiously," said the spokesman, Mark Regev, referring to deliberations on highly contentious issues such as borders and the future of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.

There was no immediate Palestinian comment on the outcome of the Olmert-Abbas meeting in Jerusalem.

Six weeks have passed since Bush launched the first final-status talks in seven years in Annapolis, Maryland, with the aim of clinching a deal on Palestinian statehood before he leaves the White House in January 2009.

But the negotiations have yet to leave the starting gate.

Palestinians demanded Israel first commit to halting all settlement activity, including so-called "natural growth", as under a long-stalled "road map" peace plan.

Though major differences remain over Jewish settlement construction near Jerusalem, officials on both sides had said they hoped Tuesday's meeting would seal an agreement to push forward with final-status talks by setting up working groups to try to resolve many of the thorniest issues.

A right-wing party in Olmert's government threatened on Sunday to break up the coalition if negotiators begin discussing core issues.

Bush begins his first presidential visit to Israel and the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.

In addition to a demand to halt settlement activity, the Palestinians said they had planned to ask Olmert to stop a stepped-up campaign of military incursions into the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and towns in the West Bank, where Abbas's secular Fatah faction holds sway.

There was no immediate word after the meeting whether the Israeli leader had agreed to curb military operations.

(Writing by Jeffrey Heller and Adam Entous, Editing by Elizabeth Piper)