Jerusalem/Amman, March 27 (DPA) Ten days after his Fatah party joined the Islamic militant Hamas movement in a unity government, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas asked US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to pressure Israel to revive peace talks, a senior aide said.

"President Abbas told Rice that confining talks between the Palestinian and Israeli sides to humanitarian and security issues is insufficient," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told reporters Monday as Rice, on a diplomatic blitz through the Middle East, held talks with Abbas in Amman for the second time in as many days.

Rice also held a two-hour meeting Monday night with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, the second of her current visit.

Israel says it will not revive peace negotiations so long as the Hamas-Fatah government, like the Hamas-only cabinet that it replaced, refused to recognize the Jewish state's right to exist. Instead, it is willing to hold bilateral talks with Abbas, the Fatah leader, but only on improving Palestinian living conditions and enhancing security cooperation.