US Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Sunday against instituting a Palestinian state that is smaller and weaker than envisaged by the Road Map peace process. Speaking to CNN, Powell said a unified Palestinian state should be created on the West Bank with connections to the Gaza Strip, rather than 'bantustans' - apartheid-like cordoned-off areas that were created in pre-1990 South Africa. "The West Bank should not be sliced off. This would be unacceptable," he said.