Speaking a few hours after the Israeli assassination of Ismaeel Abu Shanab, a senior Hamas official in Gaza, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell called on Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat to help his Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and use security forces he controls to help stop attacks on Israel.
Additionally, he warned both sides of the consequences of giving up on the U.S.-sponsored "road map" to Middle East peace.
"[I] call on Chairman Arafat to work with Prime Minister Abbas and to make available to...Abbas those security elements that are under his control so that they can allow progress to be made on the road map - end terror, end this
violence," Powell told reporters.
"The end of the road map is a cliff that both sides will fall off of," he said.
