Powell Mideast mission moves to Jordan

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, left, talks to Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman

AMMAN, Jordan (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell traveled to Jordan on Friday as he continued to seek a solution to nine months of violence in the Middle East.

Powell's Friday meeting with Jordan's King Abudullah II comes a day after the U.S. diplomat mediated an Israeli-Palestinian agreement for a timeline to end hostilities in the region.

Following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Powell announced Thursday that Israel and the Palestinians had agreed to complete seven straight days without violence -- to be followed by a six-week "cooling off period" when the two sides would begin to implement confidence building measures.

The secretary said that the timeline would be a test for Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian commitment to end violence.

"Like the prime minister just said, there will be a seven-day period starting at some point in the future when quiet occurs that will measure the chairman's actions," said Powell, referring to Arafat.

ON THE SCENE Andrea Koppel: A preview of Powell's trip to the Middle East     VIDEO CNN's Mike Hanna reports on Colin Powell's trip to Israel in an attempt to rekindle the peace process (June 28) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)   ALSO Former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell on Mideast, Northern Ireland

Militant Palestinian groups pledged to continue their so-called intifada -- or uprising -- in spite of U.S. efforts to solidify a shaky two-week truce and the killing of an Israeli settler on Thursday afternoon. An armed group linked to Arafat's Fatah organization claimed responsibility.

Powell met with Arafat on Thursday morning, and Arafat pledged to curb the violence.

"And we will do all our best in the future, and from now, not in the future from now, in front of you as I told you, your excellency, you can check all our commitments from the time they are signed," said Arafat.

Still unclear is when the clock will start ticking on the seven days of "complete quiet."

Sharon had accused Arafat of not honoring the fragile truce negotiated by U.S. CIA Director George Tenet. He had said Israel must see 10 days without violence before Israel would agree to implementation of the Mitchell committee report recommendations on a Middle East peace.

The Mitchell committee -- headed by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell -- investigated the Israeli-Palestinian fighting and recommended that the two parties cease hostilities, enter a cooling-off period and begin confidence-building measures that would ultimately lead to the resumption of peace negotiations

About 600 people have been killed -- the majority of them Palestinian -- in nine months of fighting since a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation erupted last September after peace negotiations deadlocked.

Standing next to Powell on Thursday, Sharon said, "We see the continuation in the following way: A total and complete cessation of terror, violence, and incitement. When there will be complete quiet, there will be a seven-day testing period to see how the PA (Palestinian Authority) stands by its commitments."

That would be followed, he said, by a six-week cooling off period that he said must also be marked by "complete quiet."

"If there is complete quiet, we will go to the next stage, the confidence building measures, which we will not spell out at this time," said Sharon.

During a news conference earlier with Arafat, Powell seemed to adopt Arafat's demand that there be international monitors to observe the cease-fire.

Powell said in Ramallah that "as we start out with confidence-building measures, there will be a need for monitors."

He said those monitors would go to friction points to determine what was actually happening on the ground.

Israel has always opposed an international observer force, and the United States has said an observer force must be approved by both sides. Later Powell clarified that what he meant was that monitors must be approved by both sides and would not be "some outside group of forces coming in."

The Mitchell committee report also calls for the Palestinians to crack down on what it calls "terrorism" and for the Israelis to freeze settlement activities.

Arafat said Thursday that the freeze in settlement activities should begin immediately because the Palestinians are suffering, but Powell said the Mitchell recommendations are a package deal.

"It is a package, and no part of that package can be separated from any other part of the package," said Powell. "It begins with the ending of the violence, it begins with a cease-fire, it begins with a cooling-off period where confidence can be restored, where trust can be rebuilt, and where we can take this cooling-off period to collect ourselves for moving to the next phase, quickly, of the Mitchell committee plan -- and that is confidence-building measures."