By Reuters- 21/03/2006

Jordan`s King Abdullah said on Monday he believed the Israeli-Palestinian peace process had only two years left before changes on the ground would make it redundant and condemn the region to more years of strife.

The international community was tired of the failure to make a breakthrough and risked washing its hands of the peace process with potentially disastrous results, Abdullah told the European-American Press Club.

"We are physically running out of time," he said. "I don`t think that we have more than two years if we`re all talking about a viable, independent Palestinian state.

"If it doesn`t look like we`re actually going to get the formation of a future peace process and a future for Israelis and Palestinians (by 2007-2008), then I think we`re all in for a rough ride."

King Abdullah said failure to reach a lasting settlement soon could delay a solution by 10 or 15 years. If the international community grew tired of the impasse and washed its hands of the peace process, this could herald another decade or more of violence, he said.

"I just think that would be the crime of the century if that`s about to happen. So let`s keep focused. And I think that if we go beyond the two-year mark, we`re in serious trouble."
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