Israel, Palestinians Would Fall off 'Cliff' if Roadmap Abandoned: Powell

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, August 22, 2003

Israel, Palestinians Would Fall off 'Cliff' if Roadmap Abandoned: Powell

US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday called on Israel and Palestinians to stick to the road map peace plan, warning of a surge in violence otherwise.

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US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday called on Israel and Palestinians to stick to the road map peace plan, warning of a surge in violence otherwise.

While urging Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to work with his Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas to control militants, Powell warned that the end of the road map "is a cliff that both sides will falloff."

Powell issued the stern warning at a press encounter after meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan at the UN headquarters in New York.

"The alternative (to the peace plan) is more death and destruction and letting the terrorists win and let those that have no interest in a Palestinian state win? Let those that have no interest other than killing innocent people win?" he asked.

"I call on members of the international community and members of the Arab nations to step up now and insist that the terror perpetrators by organizations such as Hamas must come to an end."

Powell urged Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat to "make available those security elements under his control so that they can allow progress to be made on the road map and terror and end this violence."

The so-called roadmap, presented by the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, was again endangered by renewed violence between Israel and the Palestinians.

On Thursday, the Islamic militant called off a three-month truce put in place on June 29, following the killing of a senior Hamas official in an Israeli air strike.

The air strike came two days after a Hamas member blew himself up in a packed bus in Jerusalem, killing 20 people and wounding over 100 others. Hamas argued that the attack was in reprisal for Israel's assassination of its members in recent weeks.

Powell vowed to continue to help Israel and the Palestinians work toward peace.

"Those who are determined to blow up the road map must not be allowed to succeed. You can be sure that the United States and secretary-general and others will continue to work toward that end."

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