A senior US official said in Washington Monday that Israel must stop building Jewish settlement in the Palestinian territories.

"That settlement activity in the occupied territories must stop. That is the position of the United States," Adam Ereli, deputy State Department spokesman, told a regular news briefing. The position was best articulated by US President George W. Bush when he made it clear in his speech on June 21, 2002 that Israeli settlement activity in the occupied territories must stop, Ereli said.

He said that the US is continuing to work with both Israel and the Palestinian authorities to fulfill those commitments made under the road map.

"The road map provides a way forward toward a freeze on settlement activity. That is what we are working for...It's wrong and inaccurate to write that somehow the United States is condoning or supporting or otherwise turning a blind eye to agreements made in the road map and at Aqaba, " he noted.

Ereli made the remarks after the New York Times said in a report on Saturday that the Bush administration has modified its policy and signaled approval of growth in some Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank to lend political support to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The leading US newspaper's report also noted that Bush was reluctant to criticize Israel during his re-election campaign, which is counting on support from conservative supporters of Israel.

(Xinhua News Agency August 24, 2004)