US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday appealed to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to cede control of Palestinian security forces for the sake of achieving his life-time goal of a Palestinian state.

Powell made the unusual personal appeal a day after the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators -- the United States, Russia, the European Union, and the United Nations -- delivered a gloomy message about the progress in implementing the roadmap for peace in the region.

"Mr. Chairman, how long can you wait?" Powell asked at a news conference at the Foreign Press Center in New York.

"How long can you stay in this position where the Palestinian people are suffering, where it's difficult to go forward toward the objectives of the roadmap, where it's difficult to achieve what you say is your dream, a state for the Palestinian people?"

Powell also hinted that growing impatience with Arafat's refusal to empower Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei could soon result in a reduction of international aid to the Palestinian Authority.

"There is weariness in the international community to continue to provide the kind of assistance that the Palestinian people desperately need unless we see some sort of political reform and the determination on the part of the Palestinian Authority to improve itself," he said.

Powell said Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan for a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and from a few settlements in the West Bank offered an opportunity to move forward but required Palestinian action to reform security.

Powell's call for Arafat to step aside followed a call from US President George W. Bush to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday forworld leaders to "withdraw all favor and support from any Palestinian ruler who fails his people and betrays their cause."

The United States and Israel say Arafat, the elected leader of the Palestinian Authority, is an obstacle to peace and they refuse to have any dealings with him.

However, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier opposed the US-Israeli boycott of Arafat in a speech to the UN General Assembly on Thursday.

Barnier said his country would continue to interact with "the elected and legitimate leaders -- all the leaders -- of this region."

Source: Xinhua