‘Iron Curtain’ to be extended

THE Israeli Cabinet yesterday approved an extension of a controversial security barrier — dubbed the ‘Iron Curtain’ by Palestinians — that would swing around Jewish settlements deep in the West Bank.

Large gaps will remain in the fence for now to address American concerns.

One stretch would be built east of Ariel with 18,000 residents the second largest settlement in the West Bank but would not immediately be connected to the main security fence which runs further west, closer to Israel, said Zalman Shoval, an adviser to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Israeli radio reports said similar barriers would also be erected east of several other settlements in the West Bank heartland, including Efrat south of Bethlehem.

Palestinian officials demanded that the United States stop the construction. "All these are procedures and actions that destroy all possibilities for peace and bringing about calm, be it settlements, the wall, or what is happening around Jerusalem," said the incoming Palestinian prime minister, Ahmed Qureia.

The United States wants the barrier to run close to the Green Line, the frontier between Israel and the West Bank before the 1967 Mideast war.

The Bush administration has said it might deduct some of the construction cost for the barrier from 8bn in US loan guarantees to Israel.

Mr Qureia said yesterday he has reached agreement on the formation of a Cabinet and would present it to parliament on Sunday and Monday. Palestinian officials have said he was hoping to half the number of ministers to 12, in part because he was exasperated by wrangling over Cabinet seats.

About one-fourth of the barrier has already been built in the northern West Bank. In some parts, it runs close to Israel.

However, in other areas, the barrier dips further into the West Bank, isolating several Palestinian villages and cutting residents off from their land. The most contested issue in planning the next segment was whether the barrier would incorporate Ariel, cutting deep into areas the Palestinians claim for a future state.

The Cabinet approved a compromise backed by Mr Sharon, who hopes to appease both the United States and his hard-line constituents.

The Palestinians charge that Israel is grabbing land and unilaterally drawing a border that should be determined in future peace talks.

Under the plan, the barrier would run east of Ariel, but would not be connected for now to the main security fence running further to the west, closer to Israel. The open sections would be patrolled by soldiers.

Mr Sharon initially opposed construction of the barrier because it would leave tens of thousands of Jewish settlers on the other side, but has relented under growing public pressure.

In more than 100 suicide attacks during three years of violence, hundreds of Israelis have been killed. Dozens of times, bombers have simply walked across the unmarked line between Israel and the West Bank, blowing themselves up in Israeli cities.

In the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin, Israeli commandos captured Bassam Saadi, a senior leader of the Islamic Jihad. A witness said Saadi was hiding under a parked car when he was seized.

And, in the Gaza Strip, troops searching for weapon smuggling tunnels along the Egyptian border blew up one tunnel and destroyed several nearby buildings. Later, Islamic Jihad member Mazen Badawi was killed in an Israeli army raid in the West Bank refugee camp of Tulkarem.

Palestinian security officials said Israeli undercover troops opened fire without provocation on Badawi outside the camp's sports club, and that a bystander was critically wounded.

Israeli military said troops chased the man, and soldiers opened fire after being shot at, though it was not clear where the fire came from.