Powell Detours From Tough Issues in Road Map Talks

Colin Powell sidestepped obstacles to the formal launch of the long awaited "road map" for the creation of a Palestinian state and settled for minor confidence-building measures in meetings with Israeli and Palestinian leaders yesterday.

The US secretary of state welcomed political reform undertaken by the Palestinians, calling it a "momentous opportunity", but said it must be matched by "rapid decisive action by the Palestinians to disarm and dismantle the terrorist infrastructure".

He added that progress towards peace also "depends on actions by Israel" and noted that there were "specific actions Israel can take now".

But Mr Powell by-passed difficult issues such as the new Israeli demand that the Palestinians renounce the right of return for refugees before negotiations begin, and he brushed aside questions about Jewish settlements and outposts in the occupied territories by saying that talks on that would wait until next week's visit to the US by the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon.

"I believe there is sufficient agreement on the provisions of the road map that we can get started," he said after separate meetings with Mr Sharon and the new Palestinian prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, better known as Abu Mazen. "Let's not waste another discussion session. Let's get on with some actions that are required."

Israel offered a number of concessions to US demands for an easing of the plight of Palestinians, promising to issue permits for 25,000 Palestinians to work in Israel and to release about 180 political detainees.

But Mr Powell had been looking for additional measures to "ease the lives of Palestinians", such as a relaxation of the military roadblocks which seal off every major West Bank town and of the crippling, long curfews imposed on hundreds of thousands of people.

Mr Sharon said he was not prepared to offer any conces sions that he claimed jeopardised Israel's security.

"I said very clearly that for genuine, durable, real peace, Israel will be ready to make painful concessions. I emphasise as well that when it comes to security... Israel will not be able to make any concessions nor compromises," he said.

Mr Sharon repeated that political progress could only come with "a genuine war against terrorism by the Palestinians".

The new Palestinian prime minister has been attempting to broker a ceasefire with Hamas and Islamic Jihad to end attacks on Israel. But Mr Sharon and his ministers have in recent days denounced what they are calling a "compromise with terror" and demanded that the new Palestinian leadership confront and disarm Hamas and other groups.

Abu Mazen said the Americans should not to allow the Israelis to cherry-pick which parts of the road map they want to implement, or to set conditions for the Palestinians to fulfil before the Israelis begin to meet their obligations.

The Palestinian prime minister also pressed for Washington to get Israel to curb the expansion of settlements, halt assassinations and allow freedom of movement for the Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat.

Mr Powell's visit left unanswered the central question of how serious George Bush is about pressing Israel to follow the road map.

Mr Powell had earlier claimed that he had persuaded the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, to close the offices of militant Palestinian groups in Damascus, but in an interview published today, President Assad denied any such agreement had been reached.

"We talked about all these issues but no final decision was made. We are still talking," Mr Assad told Newsweek magazine.

He told the interviewer that Syrian actions towards extremist groups would ultimately depend on the fate of the Golan Heights, Syrian land captured by Israel in the 1967 war.