JERUSALEM, March 13 (Reuters) - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak will not attend the first meeting called by a U.S. general to assess implementation of a long-stalled peace "road map", and will send a top aide instead, a spokeswoman said.

Israel has been bracing for U.S. criticism at Friday's meeting in Jerusalem for not living up to its commitments under the "road map", particularly with regard to settlement-building.

The 2003 plan calls on Israel to remove Jewish outposts built without government authorisation in the occupied West Bank and to halt all Israeli settlement activity in the territory. It also demands the Palestinians crack down on militants.

Barak and Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad were expected to attend the closed-door meeting with General William Fraser, who was appointed by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to oversee road map implementation.

Friday's meeting will be the first since a November conference in Annapolis, Maryland, relaunched peace talks with the goal of trying to reach a statehood agreement before U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office next January.

Fraser has submitted his first confidential report on road map implementation to Rice. The contents have been kept secret.

In his place, Barak will send senior Defence Ministry strategist Amos Gilad, whose portfolio covers many of the issues Fraser was expected to raise.

"Barak will not participate. Amos Gilad will go instead," a ministry spokeswoman said.

It was unclear if Barak's decision not to attend the meeting in Jerusalem would prompt Fayyad to send an aide as well.

U.S. officials said ahead of Friday's meeting that Washington was not satisfied with the pace at which Israel was moving to implement the road map.

Washington has been particularly critical of Israel's decision to push ahead with settlement expansion on occupied land, a move they see as damaging to U.S.-backed peace talks with the Palestinians.

Israel has likewise failed to uproot the unauthorised outposts in the West Bank.

U.S. officials said Washington believed the Palestinians needed to do more to meet their obligations to boost security and rein in militants in the West Bank, though U.S. officials have privately complained to Israel that its frequent raids were undermining those efforts. (Additional reporting by Mohammed Assadi in Ramallah; Editing by Richard Williams)

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