FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell is in the Middle East this weekend, trying to navigate both sides along that road map for peace. The secretary is in Jordan ahead of a meeting to discuss military control over Gaza and Bethlehem. CNN's Sheila MacVicar is in Jerusalem with details.</s>SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: There are some signs that there may be some progress under way, an implication of U.S. administration's road map to peace. "The Los Angeles Times" reporting today following Secretary of State Colin Powell's visit here yesterday, that Israeli and Palestinian officials appear to be getting close to reaching an agreement for the handover for security control purposes back to the Palestinians of the entire Gaza Strip, plus the West Bank town of Bethlehem. Israeli officials confirming that in the past, this was, in fact, one of the proposals that had been put on the table to Palestinian officials. They say that what is in their interests or what their concern is, is not the size of the area returned to Palestinian security control, but the Palestinian willingness to fully implement security -- and exercise security authority in that area. In addition to that, be willing to go ahead and dismantle and fairly quickly also disarm organizations like Hamas. Now, these discussions are taking place. We are told negotiations will resume again tomorrow. The Israelis are also acknowledging that they are telling the Palestinians that they would refrain from all military activity in areas under Palestinian security control, except in cases of what they call a ticking bomb, a specific intelligence about a would-be suicide bomber, someone who is planning to carry out other kinds of terrorist acts. They say in that case if Palestinians did not act, they would, indeed act. In the meantime more pressure should be placed on both the Israelis and the Palestinians. The secretary of state meeting tomorrow in Jordan with representatives of what is called the Quartet, representatives of the government of Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, all coming together to coordinate strategy, keeping pressure on both parties here. Sheila MacVicar, CNN, Jerusalem.
Powell Tries to Keep Road Map Alive