Israel to reroute barrier closer to Green Line

ISRAEL will reroute its West Bank barrier closer to the boundary of the occupied territory under a court order that Palestinians must not be cut off from their lands, the project's administrator said yesterday.

It was the first confirmation of leaks from security sources that the barrier, which the World Court and UN General Assembly have branded illegal and said should be dismantled, would in future run nearer to the "Green Line" frontier.

Senior political sources said the route revisions made by Defence Ministry planners would be presented to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon next week for final approval. Israel bills the barrier as its bulwark against infiltrating Palestinian suicide bombers.