* President nudges Palestinians, Israel toward talks
* Supports Palestinian state but only with peace deal
By Daniel Trotta
BOGOTA, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bogota on Tuesday, part of a stepped-up effort by the South American leader to help broker Middle East peace talks.
"In the past three days I have spoken with Prime Minister Netanyahu of Israel, the spokesman of the Quartet, former (British) Prime Minister Tony Blair, and last night I spoke with (U.S.) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton," Santos told a news conference.
The "Quartet" working toward a Mideast peace settlement is made up of the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia.
"We will be examining the best step to take so that both sides sit down to negotiate as soon as possible," Santos said.
Santos, in power for 14 months, has raised his international profile by re-establishing diplomatic relations with neighboring Venezuela and playing a central role in getting Honduras reinstated to the Organization of American States.
Abbas has demanded that Israel halt all settlement building in the occupied West Bank before Palestinians will restart talks. Israel has made clear it is not ready to stop the settlements.
Santos reiterated that Colombia wants the Palestinians to have a state but only as a product of a negotiation with Israel, a position consistent with that of Washington and Tel Aviv.
Last month Abbas formally asked the United Nations to recognize a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, territories Israel captured in 1967.
Colombia is on the U.N. Security Council as part of the rotation of 10 countries that join the five permanent members with veto power: the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.
Colombia has pursued its role as peacemaker even as its own internal conflict continues into its fifth decade, with leftist guerrillas clashing with Colombian armed forces. (Additional reporting by Luis Jaime Acosta; Editing by Xavier Briand)
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