London, Nov 9, SPA -- U.S. President George W. Bush will continuehis "aggressive" foreign policy and will not hesitate to act alone, Secretary of State Colin Powell said in an interview published Tuesday. "The president is not going to trim his sails or pullback," The Financial Times quoted Powell as saying in aninterview on Monday. "It's a continuation of his principles, his policies, his beliefs." Although the United States' policies would also be in theinterest of friends and alliances and "multilateral innature," the country would act alone where necessary, hesaid. Powell said U.S. foreign policy had been "aggressive interms of going after challenges, issues," and that Bushwas "going to keep moving in this direction." The secretary of state said Bush would convey to Europeanleaders that he was "anxious to reach out" to them, andhe said the United States could get over its disagreementswith France, Germany and Russia, The Financial Timesreported. Powell said the prospect of a transition in thePalestinian leadership raised by Yasser Arafat's illnesswas a chance to move the Middle East peace process ahead. "We are ready to seize this opportunity aggressively,"Powell said, describing the peace process as "one of thebiggest overhangs in our foreign policy, the way it isperceived." Traveling to Mexico on Monday, Powell told reporters thathe was "impressed by the manner in which Palestinianleaders back in the territories have been discussing amongthemselves how to move forward." He said he was also encouraged by the relativepeacefulness in the region recently. "I hope that sense of quiet calm can be maintained. Thatgives us something to work with," he said. U.S. officials are in touch with all the partiesconcerning a stalled Middle East peace settlement, henoted. "The president has made it clear and I have made it clearto them that we are ready to engage as soon as it isappropriate to engage," he told reporters. --SPA1316 Local Time 1016 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/216298