US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell has ruled out any plans by Washington to rewrite the international "road map" blueprint for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
"Israel has some comments on the road map and we will listen to their comments but we do not plan to rewrite or renegotiate the roadmap," Mr Powell said in the Jordanian capital Amman.
Mr Powell, who was ending a two-day visit to Jordan and moving on to Saudi Arabia, pledged that Jordan and the United States will work closely to promote the roadmap but said Israel and the Palestinians had the bigger role to play.
"To move forward, the Palestinians have to move quickly and decisively against those who cling to the path of violence and terror," said Mr Powell, who met on the weekend with Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
"At the same time the government of Israel must do its part to improve the daily lives of Palestinians to ensure hope and to show respect," to the Palestinians, he added.
He said he hoped that the progress he apparently failed to achieve at the end of this visits to Israel and the Palestinian territories could emerge following key talks between the Israeli and Palestinian prime ministers.
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel and his Palestinian counterpart Mr Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen) are to hold their first official talks perhaps on Friday, ahead of Mr Sharon's visit next week to Washington for talks with the US President Mr George W. Bush.
The road map draws up guidelines to end 31 months of Palestinian-Israeli violence and leading up to the creation of a Palestinian state in 2005.
AFP