RAMALLAH, Nov 29: Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei on Saturday ruled out talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as long as Israel continued to construct a separation barrier in the West Bank.

Mr Qorei’s comments appeared to forestall an immediate meeting with Mr Sharon, which is seen as crucial to giving new momentum to the stalled roadmap.

“If the Israeli government says it will continue building the wall regardless of what happens, then there is no need for any meeting or talks to take place (with Sharon),” Mr Qorei told reporters after a weekly cabinet meeting in Ramallah.

Mr Qorei spoke shortly before leaving for Jordan for his first meeting with US Middle East envoy William Burns since the Palestinian premier took office earlier this month.

Israel has said it is determined to construct the barrier to prevent attacks by militants.

Palestinians view the barrier of razor-wire fences and concrete walls as an attempt to unilaterally annex occupied land. The barrier has raised controversy because it encircles Jewish settlements deep in occupied West Bank territory.

Despite issuing conditions for a meeting with Mr Sharon, Mr Qorei said his top aide Hassan Abu Libdeh and minister Saeb Erekat would meet the director of Mr Sharon’s office, Dov Weisglass, on Sunday to discuss a summit.

No date has been set for such a meeting, Mr Qorei said, adding the talks would not take place unless three is “prior preparation” and if “the outstanding issues are not resolved”.

“We don’t want meetings for the sake of meetings,” he said.

The roadmap calls for reciprocal steps, such as a halt to Jewish settlement construction and the dismantling of Palestinian militant groups, as part of a course it charts towards the establishment of a Palestinian state in 2005.

Mr Qorei also said he would tell Mr Burns in their meeting in Amman that Washington must get involved in reviving stalled peace negotiations “energetically” and “directly”.

Mr Burns is expected to meet Ariel Sharon on Sunday in his first visit to Israel since August, Israel Radio reported.

Mr Qorei will also meet King Abdullah in Amman. The Jordanian monarch plans to lobby the United States to push forward the roadmap during a meeting with President George Bush in Washington next week, palace officials said.

As expected, the United States earlier this week decided to trim back on nine billion dollars in loan guarantees to Israel as a signal of renewed interest in Middle East peacemaking from a US administration preoccupied for much of the year with Iraq.

AIDES TO DISCUSS SHARON-QOREI MEETING: Despite his conditioning of any meeting with Sharon on a halt to construction of the barrier, Mr Qorei said top Palestinian and Israeli officials would soon begin discussions about arranging a summit between the two prime ministers.