His Majesty King Abdullah said that if a just solution was not reached to the Palestinian issue, "the future looks pretty bleak for the Middle East."

In an interview with Time magazine correspondent Scott Macleod, to be published in Monday's issue, King Abdullah stressed the need for tangible results on the ground. "If we don't see tangible results on the ground by 2007, then I don't think there will ever be a Palestinian state. Then we are doomed to another decade or decades of violence," the King said.

The King continued that "the short-term objective is to get straight back to negotiations. But we want to jump ahead to something tangible. We want to move to a two-state solution... we need to start building things on the ground."

King Abdullah noted that Israel's unilateralism has not delivered results and said Israelis have come to realize that. "What we have seen with Israel and its Arab neighbors is a unilateral approach. I think it has finally dawned on Israel that that doesn't work," King Abdullah said.

The King said failure to resolve regional problems would strengthen terrorism, the root causes of which have not been addressed, he said.

In reply to a question, King Abdullah said key Arab and Muslim states are working on a new initiative to settle the Palestinian issue. A settlement to the Palestine conflict would be a major step forward in bringing peace and stability to the region, the King said.

On Israel's dealings with Hamas, King Abdullah said Israel is not looking at having a problem with Hamas, but is "looking further afield and seeing major security challenges."

"There are other regional powers that are vying for supremacy in this area," the King said. "Usually when that happens the net result is conflict and violence."

On the crisis between the U.S. and Iran, King Abdullah said, "I don't think the Middle East could afford another war. And a war with Iran would open a Pandora's box, one that I don't think the Middle East would recover from."