Abbas speaks to Obama over phone

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and US President Barack Obama spoke by phone for the first time in six months. In Monday's conversation, Abbas assured Obama that a letter he plans to send to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in coming days will not contain an ultimatum, according to an Abbas aide who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss the content of the conversation. Abbas has said the letter will sum up peace efforts, remind Israel of its peace obligations and lay out the requirements for renewing negotiations, including an Israeli settlement freeze. Netanyahu has refused to halt construction for Jews on occupied lands the Palestinians want for their state. Negotiations broke off in late 2008, and Abbas has said there is no point negotiating with the hard-line Netanyahu unless he gets ironclad assurances about a settlement freeze and the parameters for talks. Palestinians initially said the letter would include an ultimatum: a deadline for an Israeli response, and that once that deadline had passed, they would feel free to resume their quest for world recognition of a state of Palestine. However, under growing US pressure, they decided not to set a deadline in the letter, officials have said. Instead, the Palestinian leadership is to convene after a certain period to consider its next steps.