Associated Press

West Bank, January 11

Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia today urged the international community to put pressure on Israel to halt construction of its West Bank separation barrier, saying that time is running out on chances for a negotiated peace settlement.

Qureia toured a section of the barrier in Qalqiliya, a Palestinian town near the line with Israel that has been largely enclosed by the structure.

"This is the racist separation wall that intends to turn the areas of the West Bank into isolated cantons that are not acceptable to any form of Palestinian government or any form of Palestinian state," Qureia said.

Meanwhile, violence continued in the West Bank. A Palestinian man was seriously wounded when a bomb he was carrying exploded prematurely. The Israeli military said the bomber apparently had been en route to Israel. Also, a 16-year-old Palestinian boy was killed in a confrontation with the Israeli army in a West Bank village. Palestinian witnesses said soldiers fired at Palestinian stone throwers, while the military said the teen was about to throw a firebomb when he was shot.

"We turn our direction to the United States, to President Bush, to Europe, to Russia, to the United Nations," Qureia said, speaking during a tour of the barrier. "Does this leave an opportunity for the creation of a Palestinian state?"

"The Palestinian people will not accept this," he added. "They will resist, they will struggle, they will remain steadfast until they get their legitimate national rights."