Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas is angry that the US has endorsed Israel's plan to hold on to settlement blocs in Judea and Samaria. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Israel Radio over the weekend that Israeli population centers in the territories must be taken into account in any final peace agreement. "Any talk of settlements that is not a discussion of stopping them is unacceptable," Abbas said, adding that the US should not intervene in a so-called final status issue. He said Israeli settlement expansion is leading the region to disaster.