Mr Powell, however, maintained that America did not plan to rewrite or renegotiate the road map.

ECONOMIST: Peace and broken promises

Mr Powell did not come up with any grand peace plan of his own, relying instead on previous short-term agreements to end the fighting.

ECONOMIST: Foreign policy

As a part of that plan, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is crafting a speech that "will clarify its (the U.S.) views on an end result" to the Middle East crisis and the eventual "creation of a Palestinian state, " officials said.

CNN: Arab leaders welcome U.S. Mideast moves