Jerusalem: Singling out Hamas as an "enemy of peace", US Secretary of State Colin Powell on June 20 said the Palestinian Authority should crackdown on radical groups and carry out urged security reforms.

Addressing a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Powell called the militant Group Hamas an "enemy of peace" and told Sharon that he would push the Palestinian leadership to curb radical groups.

"We must make sure that all international pressure is brought to bear on these organisations, so that they know they will not succeed, they will not prevail, they will be dealt with," he said.

Powell, who is in the region do try to salvage the US- backed 'road map' for peace, said continuing violence was all the more reason to implement the peace plan. "The pace and urgency of our work needs to be maintained in order to capitalise quickly and decisively on this moment that history has given us."

As Powell held talks with Sharon, one Israeli motorist was killed and three others injured in a shooting attack by Palestinian gunmen near West Bank city of Ramallah.

The Secretary of State, who was to meet later in the day, with Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, said he was "anxious to speak to Prime Minister Abbas about efforts they are making to bring violence under control, to end violence, not just through the means of having a cease-fire, but going beyond that ... to end violence and the capacity for violence".

PTI