Bush's comments in an Egyptian newspaper interview riled Palestinian leaders, who said the deadline was realistic if talks with Israel were accelerated.

Bush told the al-Ahram daily in an interview published yesterday: "I readily concede the date has slipped some.

"I think the timetable of 2005 is not as realistic as it was two years ago. Nevertheless, I do think we ought to push hard as fast as possible to get a state in place."

The comments came amid new anger in the Arab world over the US role in Iraq, as details emerged of the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by Americans, and accusations Washington's Middle East policy is slanted towards Israel.

Bush told the semi-official Egyptian daily that it "may be hard" to achieve the 2005 deadline due to flareups of Israeli-Palestinian violence and the collapse of Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas's reformist government last year.

But he added the United States was committed to the road map and he would make this clear in a letter to Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie, who replaced Abbas late last year.

The road map charts reciprocal steps towards the establishment of a viable Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2005, including demands the Palestinians halt militant violence and Israel freeze settlement construction.

But the peace plan ground into deadlock shortly after it was adopted last year due to persistent violence and non-compliance on both sides.

Rejecting Bush's view, Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said the creation of a state by 2005 was "more than realistic", while Qurie called for stepped up peace negotiations with Israel to meet next year's deadline.

"Losing time does not serve the peace process nor the stability of this region. Therefore we think 2005 leaves adequate time for serious negotiations (for a state)," Qurie told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.