Remarks by Secretary Of State Colin L. Powell, Egpytian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher al-Sayyed, Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Jamil Al-Muasher, and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal After Working Lunch

We talked once again about the importance of the three tracks, moving in parallel if not necessarily in perfect synchronization, but it's important for us to keep working on the security track. And as I indicated earlier this week, we are close to a point where we can operationalize this track and really start to do the work on the ground. It's important for us to get to work on the ground and not just create plans, but to begin to execute plans.

It's also important that we work hard to relieve the plight of the Palestinian people. Prime Minister Sharon spoke to Secretary General Annan about this on Tuesday. We are anxious to follow up. There is a desperate need within the Palestinian community for humanitarian aid, for access to health care, for more food to be going in, for children to get to school, and we'll be doing everything we can in the very near future to improve access to these facilities and this kind of help. And Secretary General Annan will be following up in the days that follow.

We are also anxious to get to work on the task force and working groups that we made reference to last Tuesday, in all of the different areas with respect to new constitution, with respect to transformation of institutions, and all of the other areas that are so important to the resolution of this issue.

Today we covered all those issues, but we also focused on the third track, the need for clear understanding amongst all parties that only a political solution will bring an end to this tragic situation. I reaffirmed for my colleagues President Bush's commitment to working as hard as possible, and the commitment of his government and his administration at working as hard as possible to try to achieve final settlement within a three-year period of time. And we had a good discussion about what would have to be accomplished to bring this about, and we are all committed to stay in close touch with one another, and to work on the way forward along these three tracks, and they go beyond just conference and discussion, but actual work on the ground.

So it's a great pleasure to have my colleagues here, and I would invite each of them to say a word, and then we'll have to leave because of other requirements.

Your Royal Highness.

FOREIGN MINISTER MAHER: Well, let me start, if I have to. Well, we had a very good, thorough, deep and wide-ranging conversation with the Secretary of State, in continuation with what we had as talks in New York, and in preparation for a very important meeting with the President in a few hours.

We did touch on all the matters relating to the solution of the problem of the Middle East by the creation of a Palestinian independent state living side by side in peace and security with Israel. So we touched on the political aspects, on the security aspects, the humanitarian aspects, on the reform aspects and the economic aspects, with a special emphasis today on the political side.

I think we have reached an agreement or an understanding that we have to work together with the Palestinians in order to facilitate the resumption of a political process that would lead to the realization of the aspirations and hopes of the Palestinian people, and of the whole Arab peoples, and also the security of the Arabs and of the Palestinians and of the Israelis.

I think this was a very fruitful conversation. It will be followed up by other conversations at other levels. But we are determined to go forward to respect the time frame that the President has mentioned in his speech, and to work together hand in hand with the parties in order to overcome the present very difficult situation and walk together towards the realization of the vision that was expressed by President Bush in his speech.

Thank you very much.

FOREIGN MINISTER AL-FAISAL: We are here on a journey, a journey that we would like to join hands together to see our way through it, a journey for peace in the Middle East.

Our first duty is to explain what the Arab side has done, the commitment of the Arab countries toward peace which was shown in the summit conference in Beirut. We have not lain idle since then. We have been building on that peace process. Not only us as countries in the Middle East, but the Palestinians. They have been working hard to build their state and to reach the level that is required as partners for peace in the negotiations to come. They have been assiduous, working hard, and we think with great success. We were here, we are more encouraged by what we heard from the Secretary today that this journey is going in the right direction.

The Middle East is at a point where it has two divergent roads: one leading to disaster and one leading to peace and security. We all have to push or pull towards peace and security and to prevent the road to disaster from pulling us apart.

Thank you.

FOREIGN MINISTER MUASHER: Let me say that we leave here encouraged by what we heard from the Secretary of the US firm commitment to an endgame that will be achieved in three years, as the President laid out in his speech.

And I think we leave also encouraged because of what we heard as the need to translate this into a detailed plan of action in order to make sure that we don't keep talking about political visions, but that we translate these visions into implementable work plans.

I think the discussion has been extremely fruitful. We talked in specific about some ideas that we have in order to move the process forward, and we heard about ideas that the US presented forward.

I think we have our work cut out for us. We all look forward to creating the proper environment through which elections can take place in the Palestinian territories, and beyond that to move from now till the end of the three-year period in order to end the occupation, establish a Palestinian state living side by side wish Israel, and have security guarantees for all countries in the region.

Thank you.

SECRETARY POWELL: Thank you very much.