Calling Hamas an "enemy of peace," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Friday that the Palestinian Authority must take decisive steps to disarm the Islamic group, and as usually backed Israel. Powell spoke Friday at a joint news conference with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who said no progress can be made on a U.S.-backed peace plan until Palestinian security forces fight the militias. "I am anxious to speak to Prime Minister Abbas about efforts they are making to bring violence under control, to end violence, not just through the means of having a cease-fire, but going beyond that ... to end violence and the capacity for violence," Powell said. "The enemy of peace has been Hamas," Powell said, adding that as long as the group remains committed to terror and violence, "this is a problem we have to deal with in its entirety." Powell did not say how far he wants the Palestinians to go in a crackdown on intifadha. Powell said Israel has begun carrying out one obligation under the peace plan - the dismantling of West Bank settlement outposts. "We have begun to execute the road map," Powell said, adding he would talk to Israeli leaders about taking additional steps. **Powell Slave to the Zionists, a Liar and Hypocrite*** Senior Hamas official Abdel-Aziz al-Rantissi, who was wounded in an Israeli missile strike in Gaza last week, said in response: "Colin Powell proved that he is a real slave to the Zionists, a liar and a hypocrite." Hamas, the main Palestinian group behind a campaign of bomb attacks during a 32-month-old uprising for independence, has rejected Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas's calls for an end to attacks on Zionists. The Islamic group, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, claimed responsibility for a Jerusalem bus bombing that killed 17 people last week after a failed Israeli attempt on Rantissi's life. The bombing was followed by a series of Israeli air strikes that killed Palestinian civilians. Palestinian gunmen wounded at least four people in a West Bank shooting on Friday while Powell met Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem, security sources said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the shooting, which occurred on a road used by Jewish settlers near the Palestinian city of Ramallah. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (L) and Secretary of State Colin Powell meet in Jerusalem June 20, 2003. (Gil Cohen Magen/Reuters)