RAMALLAH, May 25 (Xinhuanet) -- Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Wednesday that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas will seek the US support for the establishment of an independent and viable state in his visit to Washington.

    Erekat told the Voice of Palestine that Abbas will ask US President George W. Bush for a clear position regarding the implementation of the roadmap peace plan which envisages an independent and viable Palestinian state alongside Israel.   "Abbas will ask the president how to turn his vision of establishing an independent Palestinian state into reality," Erekat said.

    He added that Abbas will also voice grave concerns over the Israeli construction of the separation wall in the West Bank and the expansion of settlements, which he said "will destroy Bush's vision."

    "The United States has to seriously pressure Israel to halt settlement expansion and the building of the wall and stop the Israelis from destroying Palestinians houses," he stressed.

    Erekat said Abbas will seek US assurances that the coming Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank is part of the roadmap, not an alternative to it.

    Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Tuesday in Washington that Israel will keep three large settlement blocs in the West Bank in any future peace agreement with the Palestinians. 

    Wary of the possible Israeli trade-off of the coastal strip to the larger West Bank, Abbas will endeavor to obtain Bush's pledge that the final status of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which Palestinians want for a state, will not be preempted by the Gazadis engagement plan, Erekat added.

    He expressed hope that the United States will offer more aid to sustain the Palestinian economy.

    Abbas arrived in Washington on Tuesday night and he is scheduled to hold talks with Bush on Thursday.

    It was Abbas' first visit to the White House since he won the January presidential election.

    The trip was also the first by a Palestinian leader since 2000 as US and Israel had shunned late leader Yasser Arafat in peace talks, accusing him of fomenting violence.  Enditem