Powell completes first Mid East visit

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell has completed his first visit to the Middle East where he met both the Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

Both sides laid out the conditions under which the stalled peace talks could resume. Israel's Prime Minister elect Ariel Sharon told Mr Powell that Palestinians must stop acts of violence before peace negotiations can resume.

Yesterday however, Yasser Arafat's message for the new secretary of state was that the Bush administration should do all they can to help restart talks where they broke off last month.

Despite the meetings, the five-month old Palestinian uprising continued as the death toll approached 400.