Interview by Tony Snow on Fox News

Secretary Powell, there are press reports today that the State Department is going to introduce a 20-day waiting period, or at least extend by 20 days, the period for granting visas to people from a series of Arab and Muslim countries. Is that true?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, as you know, Tony, we are always adjusting our visa policy to make sure that those who come into the United States we've run a check on, to make sure that we are safe. And so in a number of countries we are putting in place a temporary measure that will give us the time we need to make sure we're checking all the relevant databases back here in the United States.

We hope it will be a temporary period, because we are putting together a more elaborate system where we can make that instantaneous check of all of our intelligence and law enforcement databases.

I want to assure everybody, however, that the United States remains an open country. We want people to come to our shores. But at the same time, we have to protect ourselves. And so this will be a temporary inconvenience in a number of countries, and then we hope we will get through it rather quickly.

QUESTION: A number of these nations are allies of ours in the fight against terrorism. Has there been any diplomatic response from Saudi Arabia or Egypt or India?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, the policy hasn't been implemented yet, so we will see in due course. I've just seen so far today press reporting on the policy. But we are hard at work on that, and we are sensitive to how it would affect some of our friends and allies around the world. And I hope they will understand that this temporary measure is needed for our security, and we will assure them and reassure them and again reassure them that the United States remains an open country. We welcome those who want to come to our country to visit, to go to school, to take a look around, for whatever purpose. We are that kind of a society.

But at the same time, in this time of tension and crisis, we also have to make sure we know who is coming to the country, and we have checked them through our intelligence and law enforcement databases.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, next week you are going to be meeting with counterparts from Iran. There are press stories again today, and there have been in recent days, that Iran may in fact emerge as an ally of ours, or at least somebody who is going to be helpful in the war against terror.

In addition, there have been a series of riots in recent weeks that seem to be pro-American in nature in Iran. Do you foresee the day, sometime soon, when Iran once again could be an ally of the United States?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, I wouldn't use the word "ally" in any either near-term or long-term period with respect to Iran. Some interesting things are happening there. We are willing to explore opportunities with Iran. We have made it clear that if they want to be a member in this campaign against terrorism, then it has to be against all forms of terrorism, and not just the terrorism that they happen to condemn today. They have a choice to make. And we are exploring those opportunities and those openings with Iran, and I hope to do so over the weekend at meetings in New York.

With respect to pro-American demonstrations in Iran, I think that is an interesting development. I have always known, over these many, many years, that we have had these poor relations with Iran, but there was a well of friendship among the Iranian people for America and Americans.

And so we'll see where this takes us. You have two factions at work in Iran, the supreme leaders and of course the president, represent I think a more moderate strain of the Iranian political culture and elite. So we'll see where this takes us, but it's an interesting development.

QUESTION: Mr. Secretary, the President is not going to be meeting with Yasser Arafat this weekend in New York. What must Mr. Arafat do to get a meeting with the President?

SECRETARY POWELL: Oh, I think in due course, when the time is right, Mr. Arafat will have a chance to meet with the President. We hope, over the weekend, that I will have an opportunity with Mr. Arafat -- he and I to get together and talk, and I hope to meet with Foreign Minister Shimon Peres if he is there, to see if we can get a little closer toward the cease-fire that we all are anxious to see come into effect so we can go forward into the Mitchell Plan.

And if I have an opportunity to meet with Mr. Arafat, and he is there, of course, then we will talk more about additional actions he might take to reduce the violence down to nothing, zero -- get it as quiet as possible -- so that we can start to restore trust and confidence. And as we start down that road, in due course, I'm sure that there will be appropriate meetings at all levels between both sides.

QUESTION: Should he repudiate explicitly a number of terrorist organizations, specifically Hamas, Hizballah, and Islamic Jihad?

SECRETARY POWELL: Well, I think these organizations are clearly terrorist, and we have listed them as such in our various documents for a number of years. And I think he should reject the kind of actions they take, the terrorist activities they perform, because those activities have just kept the region in turmoil and are not consistent with an organization, a political organization, that is trying to achieve a peaceful resolution to the difficulties that exist in the Middle East.

QUESTION: And what steps can Israel take in the short term?

SECRETARY POWELL: We are hopeful that Mr. Sharon, Prime Minister Sharon, will find it possible to remove the Israeli Defense Force from the remaining villages in the West Bank that they are located in. And I know that he and Foreign Minister Peres will be talking to one another over the weekend on the outline of a plan to move forward into a cease-fire, and into non-belligerency agreements with the Palestinians. And I hope, as a result of their conversations and conversations I'm sure I will be holding with the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister of Israel, we will have a jump-start that will get us closer toward implementation of the Mitchell Plan.

QUESTION: Secretary of State Colin Powell, it sounds like you have a busy weekend.

SECRETARY POWELL: Yes, indeed. Thank you, Tony.