AGADIR, Morocco?Secretary of State Colin Powell, after meeting Monday with Morocco’s moderate King Mohammed VI, demanded “a clear statement from Israel that they are beginning to withdraw” from Palestinian territories and “to do it now.”

Powell asked the king to counsel Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to halt violence against Israelis. The secretary said he hopes to see Arafat later in the week.

Israel’s military presence on the West Bank is having a severe impact, Powell said. “We have a very difficult situation in front of us. We want to see this operation brought to an end as soon as possible.”

Mohammed, the first leader to meet with Powell as the secretary began a trip aimed at halting the violence between Israelis and Palestinians, assured Powell that Morocco will be ready to act on a land for-peace proposal “without any prior conditions” as soon as Israeli troops withdraw from the West Bank.