Powell said the Wolf mission will also try to get a start on developing the Palestinian Authority's capacity to deal with terrorism and on promoting a viable economy. "We want to see if we can do things to get the Palestinian economy started and not just as a deliverer of aid," he said.

Powell said Wolf and his team "can't get derailed by acts of terror that are intended to derail. We can't let the terrorists win."

He raised the possibility that the number of monitors will be increased as the need arises.

Powell, whom President George Bush entrusted at Aqaba, along with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, with making the Mideast "a matter of the highest priority," is scheduled to be back in the region in two weeks for an international economic conference in Jordan.

He is expected to use that opportunity to convene a quartet meeting involving himself and representatives of the United Nations, the European Union, and Russia.