GAZA, May 8 (Xinhuanet) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA)was angered by US President George W. 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 Year 2005 is like emptying the roadmap of its contents."

    Bush told the Egyptian Al-Ahram daily in an interview which was published on 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 Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei is due to meet with US national security advisor Condoleezza Rice in Berlin on May 17 in order to discuss ways torestore 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. Enditem