"Our position has not changed. It is well known. Getting control of terror groups operating in Palestinian territories against Israel is of critical and vital importance to progress on the roadmap," State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said ata news briefing.

As to Palestine's coming elections on Sunday, Ereli said the United States has been focusing on an election that produces a leadership representative of the Palestinian people and will engage productively in moving forward in coming to peace with Israel.

"That is what we want to see. This is what we are going to workfor. I think that is what the international community is working for. Implicit in that is the need to crack down on terror," Ereli said.

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

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