Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat stated on Saturday that establishing an independent Palestinian state by the year 2005 is more than realistic.

Arafat's statements came in response to US President George W. Bush's statements voicing skepticism about the possibility of establishing a Palestinian state, and described the issue as "not realistic."

Arafat said "According to the agreements we signed at the White House, Wye River, Camp David, Sharm El-Sheikh, Taba and the Mitchell Agreement, we were supposed to announce the establishment of the Palestinian state by the years 1998 and 1999."

Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei said that he hopes that Bush could reconsider his recent statements, adding that there is plenty of time to negotiate if the US administration intends to reach an agreement.

Qurei said "we cannot postpone this issue anymore and time is not on the peace process' side, and postponing it would be just a waste of time and not in the benefit of the region's stability."

He asserted that there is plenty of time to hold negotiations sponsored by the US administration in order to hold negotiations that ends up with the announcement of the establishment of the Palestinian state by 2005.

Asked about his expected meeting with US national security advisor Condoleezza Rice, Qurei said "we will present our issues and we consider dialogue as the base of a good relation."

PNA angered by Bush's doubt over 2005 statehood target

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was angered by Bush's statements about the difficulty of establishing a Palestinian state by 2005.

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said "not implementing the timetable for ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories by the year 2005 is like emptying the roadmap of its contents."

Bush told the Egyptian Al-Ahram daily in an interview published Saturday that establishing a Palestinian state by 2005, as laid out in the roadmap peace plan, would be hard. "I think the timetable of 2005 isn't as realistic as it was two years ago," he said.

Bush's recent statements came while Qurei is due to meet with Rice in Berlin on May 17 in order to discuss ways to restore peace in the region.

Erekat called on the US administration to reconsider its statements.

On the other side, Israel welcomed Bush's comments but went further, absolutely ruling out any possibility of a Palestinian state next year.

"The target date of 2005 has become an impossibility because we are still at the starting point of the roadmap as a result of the PNA's refusal to combat terrorism," said Sharon's foreign policy advisor, Salman Shoval.

(Xinhua News Agency May 9, 2004)