US Considers Interim Palestinian State

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, June 13, 2002

US Considers Interim Palestinian State

Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday the Bush administration is considering establishment of an interim Palestinian state and left open the possibility Yasser Arafat would head it.

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Secretary of State Colin Powell said Wednesday the Bush administration is considering establishment of an interim Palestinian state and left open the possibility Yasser Arafat would head it.

"It isn't all that new and revolutionary a suggestion," Powell told reporters as he flew to a foreign ministers meeting in Canada. "It's been a pretty consistent element in all of the discussions about how to move forward in the Middle East."

In an interview Monday with an Arabic-language newspaper Powell said creating a provisional state would give the Palestinian people "something they can put their hopes in, their dreams in, something the international community can invest in with some confidence."

"I think almost everybody has come to the agreement there is a need for provisional or interim steps," Powell said.

On Wednesday, en route to British Columbia, Powell eased back, saying an interim state was one of many ideas long under consideration.

Upon his arrival in Canada, Powell said: "What I have been doing is trying to help the press and the public understand the options that are out there, and help the press and the public understand the advice that the president has been receiving."

President Bush is to meet on Thursday at the White House with Prince Saud al-Faisal, the foreign minister of Saudi Arabia. An announcement by Bush on his strategy for carrying out his promise to the Palestinians of a state of their own could come as early as next week.

A senior administration official said Bush was seriously considering provisional statehood but had not reached a final decision.

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