US Secretary of State Colin Powell denied on Thursday that the United State has abandoned its role as a "honest broker" for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by embracing Israel's disengagement plan, saying that the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza envisioned by the plan is only a beginning not the end of a process.

"I don't think we have abandoned our role as an honest broker at all," Powell said at a joint appearance with Miguel Angel Rodriguez, former president of Costa Rica, who is a candidate for secretary-general of the Organization of American States.

He said the proposal, put forward by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in December and endorsed by US President George W. Bush on Wednesday, is "an opportunity for the first time in 37 years to see settlements being empty, to see settlements being removed and the properties being used for the benefit of the Palestinian people."

"All of the settlements will be coming out of Gaza, and four settlements will be coming out of the West Bank," he said. "And this is the beginning of a process, it is not the end of a process. "

He said it was only a statement of reality when President Bush said at a joint press conference with Sharon on Wednesday that any future solution to the conflict should reflect the "new reality" on the ground and in the Middle East region, which amounts to a tacit recognition of Israel's future annexation of large chunks of Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

"The president did not endorse any particular outcome. He did not endorse any settlements yesterday," Powell argued.

Talking about Palestinian refugees' right of return, however, the secretary seems to take a slightly different position with President Bush, who has clearly indicated that the refugees must give up their right of return to lands in Israel.

"I know there is concern about some of the issues with respect to right of return of refugees," Powell said. "One has to do with the right of return and where should return actually be to."

"With the presence of a Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel, it seems logical to believe that is where the return should take place, as opposed to Israel," he said, but adding that this is something for the two sides to negotiate with each other as they move ahead.