WASHINGTON, Dec 2: The United States has welcomed signs of some progress at the Bonn talks between various Afghan factions, with Secretary of State Colin Powell describing moves to set up an interim executive council as encouraging.

The secretary’s remark came during an appearance on the CBS ‘Face the Nation’ talk show on Sunday which was dominated by the two suicide attacks in Israel, but in which Powell was also questioned on Afghanistan and Iraq.

Saying he had talked to Palestine President Yasser Arafat on Saturday evening, Powell said the Palestinian leader now faced “a moment of truth” and it was not enough for him to merely arrest suspects, but to go after the organizations behind the anti-Israel violence.

On the situation in Afghanistan, Secretary Powell said that Al Qaeda was under enormous pressure not only in Afghanistan but in other countries where it had a presence. The Taliban were “hanging on” in Kandahar, although, the secretary said, Pakhtoon tribes were now rising up against the student militia.

Powell said he believed Osama bin Laden was still in Afghanistan, either in the south or the east, and the US had a “few ideas” about his location and was doing everything to bring him to justice.

The secretary referred to reports, published previously also but never confirmed, that Taliban leader Mullah Omar had made overtures to some Pakhtoon leaders to “cut a deal” and ruled out any compromise. Mullah Omar too would be brought to justice, Powell said.

IRAQ: Replying to questions on Iraq and a possible next stage in the war against terrorism, Powell said no decision had been taken or proposals formulated for any second stage, but the US was widening the net, looking at other terrorist networks, looking at countries that supported terrorism, and was watching Iraq.