Abbas says no progress in talks with Bush

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday he failed to achieve any progress in Middle East peace talks with President Bush and was returning home with little to show for his visit.

In an interview with The Associated Press, the Palestinian leader sounded pessimistic about the prospects of achieving any deal with Israel this year despite a big U.S. push that began five months ago at a summit in Annapolis, Md.

"Frankly, so far nothing has been achieved. But we are still conducting direct work to have a solution," Abbas said.

Abbas said the biggest obstacle is Israel's continued expansion of Jewish settlements on Palestinian-occupied territories.

"We demanded the Americans implement the first phase of the road map that talks about the cessation of settlement expansion," Abbas said, expressing disappointment the U.S. hasn't exerted more pressure on Israel to stop. "This is the biggest blight that stands as a big rock in the path of negotiations."

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