Qureia: Stick to statehood deadline

JERUSALEM – Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia wants assurances from Secretary of State Colin Powell in meetings next week that the timetable in the “road map” peace plan will be honored and the Palestinians will have a state in 13 months.

President Bush said recently that Palestinian statehood could take four years to achieve, a delay Qureia said would be “dangerous” as it would give Israel more time to expand its presence in the West Bank.

“We’ll tell (Powell) that the four years time that was mentioned by President Bush to establish a Palestinian state will encourage the Israeli government to continue stealing our lands,” Qureia told a Palestinian journalist.

The Bush administration said Friday that the parties could move as fast as they are able toward a two-state solution.

“The road map is a performance-based plan in which the parties can move forward at the pace by which they accomplish the steps in the road map,” said National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack.

Powell and foreign ministers from Britain, Russia and other nations are traveling to the Middle East in hopes of restarting peace efforts following the death of longtime Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon refused to deal with Arafat, blaming him for Palestinian attacks on Israelis.

Palestinian officials said Powell would arrive for talks in the West Bank town of Jericho on Monday. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was expected on Wednesday and Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos on Dec. 2.

Signaling new flexibility, Sharon has dropped a key demand for the resumption of negotiations – a Palestinian crackdown on militant groups.

A top adviser to Sharon said Friday that peace talks could resume if the Palestinians showed some goodwill.

The adviser, Raanan Gissin, said the prime minister considers Palestinian efforts to stop incitement of hatred against Israel a sufficient first step.

“Israel is ready to move forward,” Gissin told the Associated Press. “The first business is stop the industry of hatred … cut back on the propaganda. Stop the incitement. Put to rest Arafat’s legacy, not just Arafat.”Sharon said on Thursday that Israel would insist the militants be disarmed eventually but added that “it is clear that it’s a complicated process.”