Powell goes to Mideast

AGADIR, Morocco (AP) -- Secretary of State Colin Powell, after meeting Monday with Morocco's moderate King Mohammed VI, demanded "a clear statement from Israel that they are beginning to withdraw" from Palestinian territories and "to do it now."

Powell said he had asked the king to counsel Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to halt violence against Israelis. The secretary said he hopes to see Arafat this week.

Israel's military presence on the West Bank is having "a significant and severe" impact, Powell declared.