Mideast talks in disarray over Israeli settlement

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JERUSALEM, Sept 27 (AP): The expiration of an Israeli moratorium on new construction in West Bank settlements threw fledgling Middle East peace talks into turmoil Monday as Israel, the Palestinians and the US scrambled to find a compromise that would keep the negotiations alive.
Curbs on new construction in settlements that had been in place for the past 10 months expired at midnight and Israel showed no sign of a new willingness to compromise on the issue. Palestinians regard settlement as a major obstacle to peace and have repeatedly said they will quit peace talks if Israel did not extend its restrictions.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has deferred a decision on whether to quit the talks until at least next Monday, when he will confer with the 22 member states of the Arab League at a special meeting on the issue. In Paris on Sunday, Abbas said there was only one choice for Israel: "Either peace or settlements."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Palestinian leader to keep negotiating while appealing to settlers to show restraint.
Under heavy US pressure, Netanyahu persuaded his hardline Cabinet to agree to the slowdown last November in a bid to bring the Palestinians back to the negotiating table.
Meanwhile, a senior Palestinian official says President Mahmoud Abbas will quit Mideast peace talks if Israel resumes construction in West Bank settlements now that 10-month-old building restrictions have expired.
Palestinians have repeatedly threatened to quit U.S.-mediated talks relaunched earlier this month in Washington if Israel does not extend the freeze on new settlement construction that ended at midnight.
Israel has not offered to renew the restrictions, despite demands from Washington and the Palestinians to do so.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of Abbas' negotiating team, told Israel Radio Monday that renewed settlement activity will lead "to the breakdown of negotiations and to the breakdown of the political process."