Powell and Bush drift apart on Middle East

The differences between President George W Bush's pro-Israel Middle East policy and the approach favoured by Colin Powell, his secretary of state, were laid bare yesterday.

In an interview with Al Hayat, a London-based Arabic newspaper, Gen Powell said: "It's up to the Palestinian people to determine who their leader is, to determine who should head their government. And, at the moment, Yasser Arafat is the leader of the Palestinian people." Mr Arafat had to be negotiated with and "the president understands that".

Gen Powell also appeared to back Arab calls for "the end of the occupation" of the West Bank and Gaza by Israel so that "the creation of a state called Palestine" could take place there.