By Wafa Amr

RAMALLAH, West Bank, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will seek Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's undertaking to begin drafting a proposed agreement on statehood principles during talks on Monday, Abbas aides said.

The aides said Olmert and Abbas, who will meet in Jerusalem, have made some progress in recent talks towards narrowing differences over the nature of a future Palestinian state ahead of a U.S.-sponsored conference expected in November.

But Israeli officials said differences remained over the scope of any agreement -- Olmert wants to keep the statehood principles vague while Abbas wants them to be detailed.

Israeli and Palestinian officials have sent mixed messages about the extent of discussions so far over final status issues that include Jerusalem, borders, Palestinian refugees and Jewish settlements.

"Some progress has been achieved between the two leaders on some final status issues," a senior Palestinian official who insisted on anonymity told Reuters. He declined to give details.

"But nothing has been put in writing so far and we expect them to agree in Monday's meeting to ask joint committees to start drafting points of agreement," the official said.

Olmert's spokesman, David Baker, said drafting has not yet started. "Nothing is at a drafting stage at this point. We're hoping for continued progress with the Palestinians," he said.

Another senior Abbas aide Nimer Hammad told Reuters the Palestinians hoped an agreement with the Israelis would include details on how final status issues would be resolved.

"The Palestinians hope that during Monday's meeting the two leaders will agree to start drafting the points of agreement to pave the way for finalising a framework agreement on final status issues," he said.

"These include some details on how final status issues would be resolved. The agreement points between the two leaders could be pursued by joint committees so that the sides can finalise an agreement before the November conference," Hammad said.

Abbas has been pushing in talks with Olmert for an explicit "framework agreement" with a timeline for implementation on final status issues.

Olmert is seeking a more broadbrush "declaration of principles" and said last week he was not sure the two leaders would be able to reach a deal on statehood principles ahead of the conference.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who arrives in the region next week, has asked Abbas and Olmert to meet regularly to try to iron out differences on these core issues that would lead to ending the decades-old Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The United States has yet to spell out publicly what it hopes to achieve at the conference, which is expected to take place in the Washington, D.C. area in mid-to-late November.

Washington has yet to send out invitations, but wants Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, which does not have relations with Israel, to attend.

The Palestinians want a final deal that leads to a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank, including Arab East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, lands Israel occupied during the June 4, 1967 Middle East war. Hamas seized control of Gaza in June.

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