Secretary of State Colin Powell called yesterday for an end to violence and urged Israel and the Palestinians to facilitate Palestinian elections as he sought to revive a long-dormant US peacemaking role.

Powell, on his first visit to Israel and the West Bank in 18 months, met Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and was to hold talks later with Palestinian leaders who have taken interim control following President Yasser Arafat’s death on Nov. 11. No breakthroughs were expected as Powell, who announced his resignation last week, is now seen by both sides as a lame duck with little clout in future US policy. Israelis and Palestinians will be looking instead for signals from his successor, Condoleezza Rice.

Despite that, Powell’s mission was intended to give substance to President George W. Bush’s pledge for a new push for peace while Palestinians prepare to elect a successor to Arafat, whom Washington had shunned as an “obstacle to peace”. “This is a moment of opportunity as we look forward to the Palestinian elections that will be held on the ninth of January,” Powell said as he began talks with Sharon in Jerusalem.

“We will do everything that we can, working together, to see that these elections are held in a peaceful way and give the Palestinian people new opportunity to move forward,” he said. “Terror must be ended, violence must be ended. All sides must be prepared to meet their obligations under the road map,” Powell said, referring to a US-sponsored peace plan that has been all but shredded by persistent bloodshed.

<B>Pressure on both sides</B>

US officials suggested before Powell’s one-day visit that he would lean on Israel to pull back forces from West Bank cities and Palestinian officials to restrain militant groups to restore free movement and calm for the January election. Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie, part of an interim collective leadership, said he would urge Powell during talks in Jericho to help bring about an Israeli army redeployment away from West Bank urban areas one month before the vote.

“If elections are held under occupation, people will say the candidate rode in on top of an Israeli tank,” Qurie said, reflecting the fear of pro-negotiation moderates being branded stooges of Israel by militant factions. Powell had said earlier he had the clear impression Israel wanted to be helpful in the run-up to the election.

“If there is a formal request (for redeployment) we will deal with it,” a senior Israeli official said. “It would be brought to the cabinet which would consult security services.” Bush has vowed to capitalise on what he calls new opportunities for peace after Arafat’s death at a Paris hospital. Washington and Israel had tried to isolate Arafat, saying he incited violence, an accusation he always denied.

But no talks based on Bush’s “road map” can happen before a new Palestinian president is elected. Diplomats hope a moderate will replace Arafat but whoever wins may struggle to gain authority over militants who vow to keep fighting Israel. Powell was expected later in the day to see Palestine Liberation Organisation chief Mahmoud Abbas, tipped as the frontrunner to succeed Arafat, Qurie and perhaps acting President Rawhi Fattouh in the West Bank town of Jericho.

Powell said he would probe how much sway the group of veteran moderates who have provisionally replaced the autocratic Arafat could exert on a younger militant generation to suspend attacks on Israelis in a four-year-old revolt. Sharon has held out the prospect of talks with Palestinian leaders if they end what he terms anti-Israeli incitement as a first stage, and then crack down on militant groups.

Saul Hudson</B>