TEL AVIV, Aug 18: A dispute between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz has delayed the building of the next phase of the West Bank security barrier, the daily Haaretz said.

According to the newspaper, the two disagree over the route of the fence, which Israel says is aimed at preventing infiltrations from Palestinian militants but which does not follow the Green Line and clips off large areas from the rest of the West Bank.

“Assenting to American requests, Sharon has asked security officials to come up with alternative locations for the fence, which would protrude less into Palestinian areas,” Haaretz wrote.

“Mofaz, in contrast, has not revisited his position, and favours the erection of a fence east of Ariel, Kedumim and Immanuel settlements,” the newspaper added.

Incorporating all three settlements would cut off scores of Palestinian villages from the rest of the West Bank, and a new route leaked to the Maariv newspaper last week would only protect Ariel and loosely follow the Green Line elsewhere.—AFP