The New Nation - Internet Edition

AP, Ramallah

U.S.-led Middle East peace efforts will not be seen as credible by Palestinians unless a deadline is set for a deal, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told The Associated Press on Saturday.

Israel has rejected a timeline, the U.S. has been cool to the idea and Fayyad said he is not issuing an ultimatum. However, he warned that the situation on the ground is not static and that with continued expansion of Israeli settlements, prospects for a two-state solution are getting dimmer every day. Palestinians are worse off today than when peace-making began more than a decade ago, and they need "some notion of when this is going to end, particularly since conditions on the ground continue to deteriorate," said Fayyad, 55, an economist and former World Bank official who meets frequently with Israeli leaders and has won the respect of the Bush administration. In the runup to the U.S.-hosted Mideast conference, tentatively set for late November or early December in Annapolis, Md., Israel must make some "bold moves," Fayyad said in an interview at his West Bank office, with a large Palestinian flag and a wall sculpture of Bethlehem stone as a backdrop.