May 7, 2002	Tuesday	Safar 23, 1423

WASHINGTON, May 6: Two US senators on Sunday accused members of the administration of President George W. Bush of secretly working to undermine efforts by Secretary of State Colin Powell to bring peace between Israel an the Palestinians.

But he denied he was frustrated by policy debates inside the administration, saying he was not “weeping in my beer.”

“Are there daily — are there battles from time to time within an administration?” Powell asked rhetorically as he appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press” television show.

“Of course there are. When you have people with strongly held views, you could expect to have these kinds of disagreements from time to time.”

But he said he was pleased with the relationship he had with his colleagues within the administration and with President Bush.

The comments came after Democratic senators John Edwards of North Carolina and Bob Graham of Florida alleged that certain unnamed members of the administration were making statements undercutting Powell during his tour of the Middle East last month.—AFP