A member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Thursday called on Israel to end its settlement activities in the West Bank ahead of any meeting between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

In a statement sent to the press, Taysser Khaled urged U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Quartet on the Middle East to pressurize Israel to stop its settlement activities in the West Bank.

Rice is working to hold a three-way summit with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Khaled said that if a summit was held amid continuing expansion of settlements, the meeting would be considered as political cover for the Israeli policy.

Meanwhile, he slammed an alleged Olmert's approval to move a stretch of separation barrier deeper into the West Bank to include two Jewish settlements, which would leave thousands of Palestinians on the Israeli side of the fence.

"This is a dangerous development of Israel's unilateral measures," said Khaled, adding, "the Israeli government races with time to ... prevent the creation of a Palestinian viable statehood. "

However, Olmert's office Wednesday denied a report in Ha'aretz daily that the prime minister had already approved the new route, saying he had only ordered officials to look into the possibility.

Source: Xinhua