Jerusalem, Aug 01: US Secretary of State Colin Powell warned that the barrier Israel is building to seal it off from the west bank could undermine the roadmap for peace, in an interview published in an Israeli daily. "The continued construction will make the implementation of the next phase of the roadmap very difficult," Powell told the daily.
A day after Israel announced the completion of the first section of the barrier, which comprises a tall double fence and a length of concrete wall, Powell said US President George W. Bush was concerned and supported the Palestinian view that it amounted to a new border.
"The President is concerned by this issue because the fence is a fait accompli, which determines the borders of a Palestinian state," he stressed. The roadmap for peace -- which was drafted by the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia -- lays out steps for an end to the conflict and paves the way for the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
Bureau Report