Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 01, 2003
Sharon rejects Palestinian condition for talks
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday rejected his Palestinian counterpart's demand that Israel stop building a separation barrier through the West Bank as a condition for peace talks.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Sunday rejected his Palestinian counterpart's demand that Israel stop building a separation barrier through the West Bank as a condition for peace talks.
But a U.S. envoy, trying to revive a stalled peace "road map," said he was hopeful a meeting could still be fixed between Sharon and Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie, and he urged both sides to keep the promises they had already made.
Described by the Israelis as a fence to keep out suicide bombers and by the Palestinians as a wall to annex land, the controversial barrier of concrete and razor wire cuts deep into territory occupied by Israel in 1967.
"I hereby notify you that no condition shall be accepted... regarding the cessation of the fence, dismantling of the fence and other fabrications," Sharon was quoted as saying in the official report on Sunday's cabinet meeting.
Sharon's cabinet chief later met Palestinian officials to prepare for a meeting of the two, but a statement said they had decided "to meet again soon to continue preparations."
Qurie urged the United States to press Israel to halt work on the barrier as he met State Department envoy William Burns.
"We, too, believe in the United States that there is a moment of opportunity before us," Burns said after arriving in Israel from Jordan. "We have no illusions. This is obviously a difficult process."