A full closure was imposed on the West Bank and Gaza Strip late Thursday, ahead of the Jewish New Year, which starts sundown Friday and lasts until Sunday evening.
Meanwhile, Secretary of State Colin Powell is looking for help from Europeans, Russia and the United Nations in dismissing Yasser Arafat as a failed Palestinian leader.
However, Powell's demand at the so-called Quartet meeting on Friday had limited prospects. Unlike Washington, other nations see him as the legitimate leader of the Palestinians.
Before the meeting of the Quartet group that set out a road map designed to establish a Palestinian state in 2005, Powell was less optimistic about progress in peacemaking between Israel and the Palestinians.
"We believe firmly in the concept of the road map," he said. "And it is still there."
But Powell said, "We are waiting for the Palestinian side to determine the makeup of its new government so that we have a partner we can work with." (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
