Politics - AFP
Powell says US will not penalize Israel for barrier by withholding loans
Date: Thu, Apr 08, 2004
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) said that the United States will not punish Israel for its controversial West Bank security barrier by withholding loan guarantees as it had threatened to do last year.
Powell reiterated US concerns about the route of the barrier where it juts into Palestinian territory but said Israel had a right to construct it for self-defense and that Washington did not plan to deduct any amount of loan guarantees worth billions of dollars for the Jewish state as a result.
"Israel has the right to build a fence to protect itself if it feels that's what it needs to keep the terrorists from getting into Israel," he told a Senate appropriations subcommittee.
"We have expressed concern to the Israelis over time about the route of the fence and whether it intrudes too deeply into Palestinian territory more than is necessary for legitimate right of self-defense.
"The Israelis have made some adjustments to the fence over time and they have taken the fence down in some places once they have had a chance to take a second look at the impact that the fence has had.
"But, at the moment, we don't have any plans to dock them over the route of the fence."
His comments appeared to put to rest questions about whether the United States would punish Israel for the barrier by withholding some of the loans, as it has done to express displeasure with settlement activity in the West Bank and Gaza.
Last year, Washington announced it would withhold nearly 290 million dollars from 12 billion dollars in loan guarantees for Israel because of Israeli settlement activity in the Palestinian territories and said construction of the barrier could also result in deductions.
The Israeli government plans to finish the 100-kilometre (65-mile) stretch of the barrier between east Jerusalem and the West Bank by the end of the year despite an international outcry over its construction and a pending World Court examination of its legality.
Palestinians say the route of the barrier proves it is little more than an attempt to seize land and to pre-empt the borders of their promised future state.
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