Palestinian leader Abbas makes crucial White House visit

WASHINGTON - Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas was set Thursday for a ground-breaking summit at the White House, seeking strong US commitments to a viable Palestinian state and a halt to Israeli settlement expansion.
With the Middle East peace process at a new crucial juncture, Abbas was due for crucial talks with President George W. Bush, who had shunned his successor Yasser Arafat but met regularly with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Abbas, who already conferred with administration and congressional leaders, was looking for renewed support for an independent and contiguous Palestinian state to counter what he said was an Israeli bid to undermine the idea.
He said the US-backed notion of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has claimed 4,760 lives since September 2000 was a concept "under attack."