Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erakat accused Bush of effectively torpedoing the peace plan drawn up by the European Union, Russia and the United Nations as well as the United States, and published amid great fanfare last June. "President Bush's position removes any substance from the roadmap by calling into question the timetable for its implementation, which is an essential element of it," Erakat told AFP. "In this way, Bush is meeting the demands of (Israeli Prime Minister) Ariel Sharon. Sharon and Israel have always violated the rules of the game and obtained the backing of the Americans." Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was more measured in his response, telling reporters at his headquarters here that any fresh delay to statehood was "unrealistic." "One ought already to have been proclaimed in 1998-99" under the terms of peace agreements already signed with Israel, he complained. Bush's comments in an interview published Saturday by the leading Cairo daily Al-Ahram undercut the impact on Arab opinion of his administration's announcement of plans to renew contacts with the Palestinians in coming weeks. "Well, 2005 may be hard, since 2005 is right around the corner," Bush the president the government-owned Egyptian daily. "I think the timetable of 2005 isn't as realistic as it was two years ago," he said. Israel welcomed the comments but went further, ruling out any possibility of Palestinian statehood 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 Palestinian Authority's refusal to combat terrorism," said Sharon's foreign policy advisor, Salman Shoval. "Under these conditions, it's clear that the 2005 target date is no longer at all realistic." But the Sharon aide was less welcoming of the US administration's announcement that both national security advisor Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell will meet Palestinian officials in the coming weeks. The White House said Rice would meet Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei in Berlin on May 17, and the State Department said Secretary of State Colin Powell would meet unspecified Palestinian officials during a visit to Jordan over the previous two days. "If you meet Qorei, you are meeting a personal envoy of Yasser Arafat," Shoval complained alluding to Israel's US-backed policy of boycotting the Palestinian leader. "But I suppose Washington has its reasons for such a meeting," he added grudgingly. Qorei's talks with Rice will be his first with her since he took office as Palestinian premier last November. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Bush Says Palestinian State by 2005 Not 'Realistic'. (Reuters)