US Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Sunday that the Palestinian Authority should stand firmly to end terrorist violence after choosing a new president.

Powell told local mass media that he was confident that the Jan.9 elections for a new leader of the Palestinian Authority would proceed as planned.

If Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, the favorite to succeed the late Yasser Arafat, becomes president, he may have to do more than just try to persuade terrorists to stop their violence, Powell said.

"He (Abbas) may have to undertake operations against them...If he does that, and shows a real commitment to end terror, I think he will find an Israeli partner ready to work with him, and he will certainly find the international community, and the especially the United States, ready to play an important role," Powell said.

Abbas is taking a significant lead over his rivals in the campaign, according to a poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research that was published Sunday.