RAMALLAH, Dec. 31 (Xinhuanet) -- Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Saturday that two senior U.S. officials are scheduled to visit the Palestinian territories next week over the upcoming Palestinian legislative elections due on Jan. 25.

    Erekat told the "Voiced of Palestine" radio that U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch and Director of the National Security Council Elliott Abrams will meet senior Palestinian officials on Thursday or Friday.

    The exact date has not been fixed yet, he said.

    Erekat also said the Palestinian side will urge the U.S. officials to spend every possible effort to oblige Israel to allow Arab residents in East Jerusalem to vote in the elections.

    "We have informed the United States and Israel that the election campaign will start on Tuesday, but we have not received any Israeli response till this moment. It's a real problem," Erekat said.

    In addition, Erekat said that the kidnapping of foreigners in the Gaza Strip will only do harm to the Palestinian national interests.

    Three Britons, kidnapped by discontented Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip, were released late on Friday, the latest abdication in the chaos-plagued Gaza.

    Palestinians are due to held their second parliamentary elections in January.

    A statement issued on Wednesday by the Quartet Committee, grouping the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, urged Israel to work with the Palestinian National Authority to ensure that Palestinians living in East Jerusalem can vote in the legislative polls.

    The statement also said it was essential that Israel and the Palestinians started immediately coordinating election preparations.

    Israel had previously said that it would not allow East Jerusalem residents to vote in the Palestinian elections since the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), a group sworn to Israel's destruct, is slated to participate.

    But the Jewish state backed off from it earlier this week as officials said the government was considering polls in East Jerusalem.

    Israel seized East Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast War and then annexed it in a move not recognized by the international community. Palestinians want it as the capital of their future state. Enditem