Now, Israel ‘rerouting’ barrier

Two senior US security envoys held talks with PM Ariel Sharon about the repercussions of the World Court decision, unauthorised Jewish settlement outposts in the West Bank and his plan to withdraw settlers from Gaza in 2005.

‘‘The Prime Minister said at the meeting he was adhering to Israel’s commitments and intends to carry them out as soon as possible,’’ Sharon’s office said, citing the dismantling of unauthorised outposts and humanitarian gestures towards the Palestinians.

An Israeli security source said redrafted Defence Ministry guidelines for the barrier — a 100-metre-wide swathe of razor-fringed fencing and concrete walls — would have it run ‘‘as close as possible’’ to the Israeli-West Bank boundary.

The barrier should no longer isolate nearby Palestinian farmers from olive and citrus groves or maroon villages in enclaves without free access to essential services like schools and hospitals, markets and West Bank cities, the source said.

Meanwhile, Israel’s Labour Party on Tuesday approved the start of formal negotiations with Sharon to forge a unity government to push through his Gaza pullout plan, Channel Ten Television said.

The right-wing prime minister made overtures to centre-left Labour after losing his parliamentary majority last month when far-right allies defected in anger over his blueprint for removing troops and Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip. The vote by Labour’s leadership came a day after Sharon won agreement from Opposition leader Shimon Peres to pursue coalition talks.

Channel Ten said an overwhelming majority of the party’s 200-member central committee, which met in Tel Aviv, approved opening talks with Sharon. Political insiders say negotiations are likely to be protracted largely because of fierce resistance from more hawkish elements in Sharon’s Likud party. —(Reuters)