Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday rejected requests by the U.S. and Palestinian leadership and vowed to continue building a wall through the West Bank. Israel said the wall is needed to enhance security but Palestinians compare it to an apartheid wall.

Sharon yesterday met with President Bush at the White House.

Bush appeared to back down from his comments of last week when he described the wall as a “problem.” Yesterday he referred to it as a “sensitive issue.”

Palestinian Information Minister Nabil Amr described Sharon’s comment as “entirely negative”.

The minister said, “This means there are big obstacles in the way of the peace process and the implementation of the roadmap.”