Sharon Rejects Idea of Provisional Palestinian State
Israeli bulldozers flattened ground Sunday for an electronic fence that is planned to eventually run the entire length of the West Bank -- a disputed project aimed at protecting Israelis from Palestinian suicide bombers.

Those backing the barrier say it does not, in any way, stake out a final border between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Also Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected the idea of provisional Palestinian statehood that was aired by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and said to be under consideration by the Bush administration. Palestinians also are cool to the idea for different reasons.

Bush, who is expected to address how to advance Mideast peace this week, has not announced whether provisional Palestinian statehood is an idea he intends to push. In Washington, a Bush administration official said Sunday on condition of anonymity that the president was still considering whether to do so.

Media reports have said he may propose offering the Palestinians a state with limitations on the approximately 40 percent of West Bank and two-thirds of the Gaza Strip already under full or partial Palestinian autonomy as a result of the 1990s Israel-PLO interim accords.

Cabinet Secretary Gideon Saar said Sharon briefed the Cabinet about his meeting last week at the White House, telling ministers he had told Bush that a Palestinian state can only come once Palestinian violence stops, serious reforms are implemented and general elections are held.

``I clarified that this is not the time for any type of Palestinian state,'' Sharon said, according to Saar.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Israel-Palestinians.html