Israel cordons off WB as radicals uphold Intifada

Israeli officials said the decision had been taken by Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz following warnings of terrorist attacks.

The bombing alerts were a consequence of radical Palestinian movements rejecting the Aqaba summit between President George W. Bush and Israeli and Palestinian leaders, the sources said.

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In the summit Wednesday in the Jordanian Red Sea resort of Aqaba Israeli and Palestinian leaders formally signed on to the roadmap for peace that provides for confidence-building measures leading to a Palestinian state in 2005 side-by-side with a secure Israel.

Meanwhile, a participant at a joint meeting in Gaza City of Palestinian radical groups said five movements would continue their armed Intifada against Israel.

"We decided to pursue the armed Intifada because we reject the conclusions of the Aqaba summit where resistance was equated with terrorism," Mohammed el-Hindi of the Islamic Jihad told AFP.

At the summit with his Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon and Bush, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, declared there was "no military solution" to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and called for an end to the "armed intifada."

Among the groups which attended Saturday's meeting with the Islamic Jihad were the hardline Islamic movement Hamas, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah as well as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The Palestinian factions' meeting comes ahead of another one set for this week, according to the Palestinian Authority, between Abbas and the factions.

"We succeeded in discussing the recent summits while waiting for clarifications which will be provided by Abu Mazen," Ibrahim Abu Naja, a spokesman for the umbrella organisation which groups all the factions, told reporters earlier, using the premier's nickname.

"The intra-Palestinian differences on the questions raised (at the summits) should not prevent us from gathering and discussing them," he said.

The renewed clampdown on the West Bank came after the Israeli army eased its control over Palestinian territories a week ago, announcing it had agreed to a phased handover of security control in Gaza and West Bank towns to the Palestinians, following talks between Sharon and Abbas.

At their meeting, Sharon offered the Palestinians a partial and staged army withdrawal from reoccupied West Bank cities and sections of the Gaza Strip in a show of a good will.

This would allow some 25,000 Palestinians to work in Israel, according to an official communique.

On May 18, Israel slapped a complete closure on the West Bank and Gaza Strip after a spate of Palestinian attacks.

Since the start of the Intifada in September 2000, the vast majority of Palestinians have been refused entry to Israel with catastrophic effects on employment for 250,000 Palestinians previously working in Israel with or without permits.

Looking to end the furore over Aqaba, Abbas is to meet with all Palestinian factions this week, culture minister Ziad Abu Amr told AFP following a cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"Talks will be resumed this week and we will remove the reason that stopped the dialogue," he said.

As Abbas prepared for further meetings, reports emerged that his security chief Mohammed Dahlan was to offer militant groups 6,000 dollars apiece for their guns in a bid to rid the territories of illegal arms.

According to Israeli public radio, Dahlan has received money from the US and British governments and from the European Union to fund the programme.