Powell holds talks with Arab leaders

US Secretary of State Colin Powell discussed a possible interim Palestinian state and other peace ideas with Arab leaders in Washington as US officials cautiously welcomed a promise by the Palestinians’ new security chief to curb attacks on Israelis.

With US President George Bush expected to outline his peace proposals soon, Powell had a ‘‘warm and useful’’ 40-minute meeting with Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister, Powell’s spokesman said yesterday, but neither side would provide details.

At a later meeting with Nabil Shaath, a top adviser to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Powell ‘‘was listening,’’ Shaath said.

‘‘And I understood that this was the opportunity for the Palestinians to communicate to the secretary all their visions, all their ideas, so that he can communicate that to the president.’’

Shaath said he told Powell that a deadline for political progress toward a state is needed because ‘‘without a timeline, procrastination can come in.’’

As for the idea of an interim Palestinian state, Shaath said it is ‘‘a very important requirement’’ that any state includes the lands Israel gained in the 1967 war.

Bush’s aides say he is considering a proposal for an interim, or provisional, state for Palestinians on the land that Palestinians now hold, which comprises roughly 40% of the West Bank and two-thirds of Gaza.

The Boston Globe, in a report for Saturday editions, quoted Palestinian officials as saying the US plan would leave provisional Palestine’s borders and capital unresolved, but it would have the right to conduct foreign relations, sign treaties and join the United Nations.

The plan also calls for a halt to new Jewish settlements in the West Bank and control over Jerusalem to be decided over three years, the Globe said. The Palestinian officials were not identified.

Hassan Abdel Rahman, the ranking Palestinian official in the United States, would not comment on the report last night but said the Palestinians wanted the borders and capital questions resolved.

‘‘To leave the borders open, we don’t feel this is something we can live with,’’ Rahman said, adding it was essential the capital of a Palestinian state be East Jerusalem.

Powell floated the idea of a provisional state this week, saying it would provide the Palestinians with hope for the future and thus might help end violence. Bush’s aides called Powell’s statements

premature.

‘‘The president and his top advisers are going to continue to review what we’ve heard in the past weeks as part of these consultations, and then determine how to move forward with our strategy,’’ State Department spokesman Philip Reeker said.

US officials said they are waiting to see if promises of a crackdown on terrorism by Arafat’s new interior minister, who is in charge of maintaining security, would be matched by Palestinian action.

The Arafat appointee, General Abdel Razak Yehiyeh, said he was determined to neutralise the militias attacking Israelis but was vague on how he would do it.

‘‘Those are always encouraging words,’’ Reeker said. ‘‘And we’re watching, along with the Palestinian people, for real implementation and progress on that front.’’

Bush has demanded that Arafat streamline Palestinian security services to make them more effective in fighting terror. Yehiyeh will report directly to Arafat, who previously oversaw security services, and it is not clear how much authority he will have.

Meanwhile, on Israel’s troubled border with Lebanon, a build-up of armed Hezbollah fighters is under way in southern Lebanon, diplomatic sources reported.

The guerrillas’ weapons were provided by Iran and channeled through Syria, which plays a dominant role in Lebanon, said the sources, who insisted on anonymity.

An Israeli diplomat said 9,000 missiles, rockets and artillery shells had been stockpiled in southern Lebanon and were capable of reaching targets in the northern quarter of Israel, as far south as Haifa and Hadera.

The diplomat, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Iranian revolutionary guards were in the area from which Israel withdrew in May 2000, under intense international pressure. The

Lebanese army has not moved in to assert control, the diplomat said, which has left the area under command of Hezbollah, which is on the State Department’s list of terror organisations.