March 17, 2003	Monday	Muharram 13, 1424

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AL QUDS, March 16: Israel on Sunday sealed off the Palestinian territories amid fears of an attack during the Jewish festival of Purim, as press reports revealed Israel wants the word “independent” struck from an international peace plan to create a Palestinian state.

The Israeli army closed the borders with the West Bank and Gaza Strip for the Jewish spring carnival, an army statement said.

“No Palestinian will be authorised to enter Israel following warnings of attacks during the Jewish festival of Purim,” celebrated from Monday to Wednesday, it said.

A Palestinian security source said that early Sunday the army had turned back more than 10,000 workers from the Gaza Strip who were trying to reach their jobs in Israel.

On Saturday, Israeli military authorities also banned Palestinian men aged 15 to 35 from leaving the West Bank and Gaza Strip for an indefinite period, the Palestinian source said.

Palestinian local government minister Saeb Erakat denounced the move as “a new escalation in Israeli’s policy of aggression against the Palestinian people”, adding: “One can expect more repressive measures in the run-up to a war in Iraq.”

Meanwhile there was a mixed response at the weekend to US President George W. Bush’s announcement Friday that he would publish a final version of a Middle East peace roadmap after the Palestinians name their first prime minister, a move expected Monday.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s diplomatic adviser, Zalman Shoval, said Bush was aiming to push the Palestinians to empower their future premier, a move designed to nudge Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat into a more symbolic role.

“We basically see eye to eye with President Bush on the importance of the Palestinian prime minister,” foreign ministry spokesman Yonatan Peled said.

“Once there is a new Palestinian premier and once he begins taking action, then the roadmap is definitely something which we plan to discuss.”

Arafat agreed last month to appoint a premier in the face of heavy international pressure to reform. He offered the post to his Palestine Liberation Organization number two, Mahmud Abbas, a noted moderate, who said he would accept the job if it had teeth.—AFP