CAIRO, June 6 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation has run its useful course and to continue it would threaten the loss of the gains it has achieved, Egypt's foreign minister said in remarks published Friday, June 6.

Stating the "general Arab view," Ahmed Maher said the "intifada has succeeded in moving things toward recognition of a Palestinian state, but the appropriate measures need to be taken at each step, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

"There is a time for every thing," he told the official daily Al-Ahram. "The armed intifada has reached the point where it cannot further achieve its objective, and it will be exploited against the Palestinian people and their rights."

Maher said the "gains (of the intifada) need to be preserved so that they are not transformed into losses."

The Egyptian minister said "there is a real chance to achieve peace in the region, and the commitment of American President George W. Bush shows that he is convinced the Palestinian people should obtain an independent state."

At a peace summit Wednesday, June 4, in Aqaba, Jordan, Palestinian premier Mahmud Abbas told Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Bush that he was committed to ending the armed struggle, which broke out 32 months ago and has cost nearly 3,300 lives, mostly Palestinians.

But Palestinian movements have so far rejected an end their resistance until the Israeli troops stop its daily aggression against Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Maher denied that there had been any discussion at a Tuesday, June 3, meeting of moderate Arab leaders with Bush in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt of Cairo's ambassador to Israel returning to his post.

"Everything published about that is false, and President Hosnin Mubarak has indicated on numerous occasions what the conditions are for the return of the ambassador, namely the holding of serious negotiations and an Israeli attitude encouraging progress in the peace process."

Egypt, which signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1979, withdrew its ambassador in November 2000, just weeks after the outbreak of the intifada, accusing the Israelis of using excessive force in response.

During Tuesday's meeting, Bush urged the Arab leaders to step up the process of normalizing relations with Israel.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell asked his Arab counterparts to speed up the normalization of ties with Israel but was met with a hesitant response.

Powell made the proposal on Monday, June 2, evening with foreign ministers Ahmed Maher of Egypt, Marwan Moasher of Jordan, Sheikh Mohammed bin Mubarak al-Khalifa of Bahrain, Prince Saud al-Faisal of Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Nabil Shaath.

The U.S. secretary of state was "satisfied the Arabs had accepted the roadmap but believed that concrete measures were needed such as encouraging normalization with Israel," a participant told AFP on condition he not be named.

Powell said an accelerated normalization could "encourage the Israeli government to move forward on the peace process," the source said.

The source said among the participants only Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinians had signed peace deals with Israel and that "the United States wanted more than that," although Egypt and Jordan, with no ambassadors posted at their embassies in Tel Aviv, have downgraded relations with Israel since the intifada erupted.

Saudi Prince Saud and others told Powell they supported comprehensive rather than separate Arab moves to normalize relations with Israel in exchange for the Jewish state's handing back occupied territories and its recognition of a Palestinian state, the source said.

The meeting with Powell ended without agreement and the ministers decided they would refer the matter to their leaders, participants said.

Powell then stayed with Prince Saud trying to strike a deal until about 3:30 am (0030 GMT), they added.

A source close to an Arab delegation said, meanwhile, that Arab heads of state taking part in the Tuesday summit with Bush had "agreed to a purification of the atmosphere between Israel and the Arab countries," but that the Jewish state should "clearly recognize a Palestinian state."