12 February 2004	Thursday	20 Zilhaj 1424

NEW DELHI, Feb 11: Visiting Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Wednesday the Israeli government may not participate in an upcoming hearing of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on the security barrier it is constructing in the West Bank.

"We will take a decision in the next coming days," Shalom told reporters in New Delhi. "It might be that we don't participate," he said of the world court's first hearing in the case, slated to take place on February 23.

The Israeli government has contested the right of the court to consider the issue and is to decide before the end of the week whether to send its own legal team to argue its case at The Hague after already submitting written arguments.

It argued Tuesday that the court should not be considering what Israel regards as a "political" issue. In The Hague the ICJ said the possible absence of an Israeli delegation would not stop the procedure.

"Generally speaking states that have filed a written statement are free to chose if they participate in the oral presentations at the hearings or not. If a state decides not to be a party at the hearings the proceedings are not challenged," ICJ press officer Boris Heim told AFP.

Some 44 United Nations members have filed submissions to the world court ahead of the hearing which follows a request by the United Nations General Assembly. -AFP