Abbas gloomy as peace talks draw a blank

PALESTINIAN President Mahmoud Abbas said he failed to make progress in Middle East peace talks with US President George Bush.

The Palestinian leader sounded pessimistic about the prospects of achieving any deal with Israel this year.

"Frankly, so far nothing has been achieved. But we are still conducting direct work to have a solution," said Abbas, who claims the biggest obstacle is Israel's continued expansion of Jewish settlements on Palestinian-occupied territories.