Washington, Dec 02: US Secretary of State Colin Powell has stressed that America will not press Israel to move towards the creation of a Palestinian state until the Palestinians end terrorism. The "road map" for the creation of a Palestinian state is "still alive and well" but "it is waiting there. What is requires is the performance on the part of the Palestinians and on the part of the Israelis," Powell told reporters.


On the part of the Palstinians, he said, "what we need to see now is performance -- action taken against terrorist elements that are within the Palestinian community.

"They are killing innocent people and they are killing your dreams for a Palestinian state. And before we can get the roadmap moving again and place demands on Israel for it to meet its obligations...We have to make sure that we are taking action against terrorists."

When asked about the failure of the us so far to produce evidence that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, he said, "In the seven months or six months since the war, there are certain things that are clear to me. One, we have not found huge warehouses of this material."

"Was that an incorrect judgment or we just have not found it yet remains to be seen."

"There is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Saddam Hussein had programmes for WMDs," Powell said.


"And so how much he actually had," will be worked out in the way of "actual weapons or programmes, or programmes waiting to be restarted," Powell added.


Bureau Report