RAMALLAH- A Palestinian official says the Palestinian leader has warned President Barack Obama he will pull out of the upcoming peace talks if Israel ends its settlement slowdown. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat says President Mahmoud Abbas sent a letter to Obama stressing that any renewed Israeli settlement construction would spell the end of the talks. The talks are to begin in Washington next week. The Israeli slowdown, which bars construction of most new homes in the West Bank, is supposed to end in late September. Erekat said on Monday that Abbas also sent the letter to the European Union, the UN and Russia - all members of the Mideast Quartet of mediators, along with the US. Israel's government is split over whether to continue the 10-month slowdown.
