Washington: Cautioning that the cease-fire announced by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Yasser Arafat's mainstream faction Fatah "is a start but it cannot be the end", US Secretary of State Colin Powell has said the institution of a Palestinian State demanded that all organisations with capabilities of terrorism be dismantled.

"The cease-fire alone won't be enough. We ultimately have to reach a point where the capability for terrorism that exists in these organisations is removed," Powell told four TV networks in separate interviews.

"You can't have people with guns, armed militias, inside a State. So if we are going to have a Palestinian State, all the weapons, all the force within that State, has to be under the government and these terrorist organisations have to be dismantled," he said.

He pointed out that Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Abbas has entered into a security arrangement, which allowed Gaza to go back to the Palestinian Authority.

The Palestinian Authority has said it is ready to take over Gaza and has made commitments with respect to making sure no more terror comes from that region.

"And hopefully this will now shift to Bethlehem and we can see a transfer of authority in Bethlehem, and as confidence and trust are developed, hopefully other cities and towns in the West Bank," he said.

PTI