Wall barrier to peace, says Palestinian prime minister

PALESTINIAN Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie, with his back to a wall Israel has built inside the West Bank, yesterday said the barrier was destroying peace efforts and called for US intervention.

Meanwhile, violence continued in the West Bank.

A Palestinian man was killed when a bomb he was carrying exploded prematurely, Israel radio reported. The Israeli military said the bomber apparently had been en route to Israel.

Also, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy was killed in a confrontation with the Israeli army in a West Bank village. Palestinian witnesses said soldiers fired at Palestinian stone throwers, while the military said the teenager was about to throw a firebomb when he was shot.

Israel says the barrier, a mix of fences and walls that encroach on West Bank land by varying amounts along the 90 miles built so far, is meant to keep out suicide bombers.

Palestinians call it an effort to annex or fragment occupied land, and Mr Qurie visited a section that all but encircles the Palestinian town of Qalqilya to dramatise the case against it. "From the edge of this racist separation wall, I appeal to the US, to President Bush, Europe and the United Nations to (understand) that this leaves no chance for the establishment of a Palestinian State," he said in the shadow of the 33-foot-high barrier.

"I am not saying this emotionally. I am trying to attract attention to what they (Israel) are trying to do through this wall. They are drawing a picture of an imposed solution on the ground," said Mr Qurie, who took office in November.

The barrier's serpentine course has separated Palestinian farmers from their fields and crippled trade between villages and market towns like Qalqilya, where 40,000 people are ringed by concrete except for one gap with an Israeli army checkpoint. "We want the United States ... to tell Israel to stop building the wall that is destroying everything. It is not only an obstacle to peace, the wall destroys peace," he said.

Israel is threatening a unilateral "separation" along the line of the barrier, absorbing major Jewish settlements in the West Bank, to replace a US-backed "road map" peace plan that is now in tatters. Palestinians fear the barrier would splinter the State they seek.

The Bush administration sees Palestinian "terrorism" as the biggest obstacle to peace, but is also concerned the barrier may pre-empt negotiations to ensure a viable Palestinian State.

"Any talk of a State (for us) is a waste of time now because this wall ... is meant to transform the West Bank into cantons and "bantustans" where there will be no form of (real) Palestinian rule or any chance for a Palestinian State," said Mr Qurie.

"But our people will not give in. They have several options and they will carry out such options."

He repeated that Palestinians might demand a "bi-national" State grouping Israel with the West Bank and Gaza Strip where Arabs could be in the majority, or continue "resistance to occupation" in the two territories.

But the Palestine Liberation Organisation executive committee, led by President Yasser Arafat, also reiterated a commitment to an independent Palestinian State in the West Bank and Gaza alongside Israel.

"The option of President Arafat and the Palestinian leadership is still a two-State solution based on meaningful negotiations," said Negotiations Affairs Minister Saeb Erekat.

Aides to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon denounced Mr Qurie's "bi-national" threat as contrary to the "two-State solution" envisaged by the road map.

Mr Qurie, in a speech to Qalqilya citizens, urged Bush to explain how he would see his two-State formula to fruition if the barrier, due to run hundreds of kilometres, were completed.