Jerusalem: Giving a new push to the Middle East peace process, US Secretary of State Colin Powell has urged Israel and the Palestinians to start implementing the newly released 'road map' for peace, which envisions a Palestinian state by 2005 living side by side with the Jewish state.

After holding talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom upon his arrival in Jerusalem on May 10 night, Powell told a news conference that though the details of the agreement had not been worked out, there was enough agreement to get it started.

"There is enough agreement on the road map that we can get started… as we hear comments about the road map, what is absolutely clear is that there is more than enough for us to get started," Powell said.

Stating that the Palestinian leadership was prepared to move towards peace, Powell called on both sides to take necessary steps towards implementation of the road map drawn by United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.

The peace plan outlines a process that begins with ceasing Palestinian violence and Israel's withdrawal from Palestinian territories and ends in the establishment of a Palestinian state by 2005.

"There is a need to end violence now. There is a need to end terror now. There is a need to take some steps that will make life a little better for the Palestinian people," Powell said at the joint press conference with Shalom.

PTI