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Middle East envoy Tony Blair. (Reuters) Last update - 20:15 28/04/2008 Israel agrees to lift key West Bank roadblock upon request from Blair By Reuters Tags: roadblocks, Israel, West Bank  Israel on Monday agreed to remove a strategic roadblock near the West Bank city of Nablus, after Middle East envoy Tony Blair presented a list of travel and trade restrictions he wants removed to bolster peace talks with the Palestinians. After Blair's talks with Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Monday, Israel said it would take down one checkpoint between the city of Nablus and dozens of smaller towns and villages in the northern West Bank. Palestinian residents described the checkpoint as a major bottleneck for travelers and traders. An Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman said the decision was made after a Advertisement security assessment but added that the barrier could be replaced in the future if Israel determines that Palestinian militants are using the route. A Blair spokesman welcomed Barak's decision to remove the checkpoint east of Nablus but declined to comment on the list. The list calls for the removal of a number of key roadblocks, including one near the settlement of Beit El that restricts Palestinian travel to and from the West Bank city of Ramallah, where President Mahmoud Abbas' government is based, Officials briefed on the document said on Monday. The list is the first of its kind by the former British prime minister since world powers appointed him last June to spearhead efforts to revive the Palestinian economy. Citing Israel's restrictions, the World Bank cautioned this week that per capita income in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank in 2008 would be static, if not lower, despite $7.7 billion in aid pledged to the Palestinians in December. On Monday, Blair met Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who has so far balked at removing major checkpoints and roadblocks, arguing they are necessary to stop Palestinian militants. A spokesman for Blair said: "We can't discuss the details of what we are talking about with the Israelis." Palestinians say Israel's network of hundreds of checkpoints and roadblocks in the West Bank amount to collective punishment, stifle their economy and undermine support for Abbas. The Palestinian leader launched final-status peace talks with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in November. With U.S. President George W. Bush slated to return to Israel next month, Western pressure is mounting on Olmert to do more to ease travel restrictions and take other steps to shore up Abbas, whose authority has been limited to the West Bank since Hamas Islamists took over the Gaza Strip in June. While maintaining restrictions in the West Bank, Israel has tightened its economic and military cordon of the Gaza Strip since Hamas's takeover. Details from Blair's list have yet to be made public. But similar efforts by other Western envoys have failed in the past. U.S. Gen. Keith Dayton, who serves as security coordinator between Israel and the Palestinians, presented his own roadblock removal plan a year ago that was ignored by Israel. Following a recent visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Israel announced plans to remove 61 barriers in the West Bank. But a UN survey subsequently found that only 44 of the 61 obstacles had been scrapped and that most of them were of little or no significance. The peace talks, launched at a U.S.-sponsored conference in Annapolis, Maryland in November with the goal of reaching a statehood deal before Bush leaves office next January, have shown little sign of progress. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Hamas on the Holocaust Al-Aqsa TV claims Jews concocted the Holocaust. Grasping genocide How a non-Jew in Israel came to understand the Holocaust.   1.   Blair should take a look at the Taggart Forts 13:30  |  * BEN JABO 28/04/08   2.   NO to Blair Crap 14:07  |  Brod 28/04/08   3.   Iran can help remove Israeli roadblocks from the West Bank 14:22  |  Aounist 28/04/08   4.   Ben Jabo,Blair should take a look at "Peace Wall " in Belfast 14:26  |  Absolute Sweden 28/04/08   5.   Wow. Some people can`t think ahead. 14:54  |  Helen 28/04/08   6.   Helen #5 15:50  |  Brod 28/04/08   7.   It is okay to trust a wolf, but first ... 16:24  |  Shimon Cleopas 28/04/08   8.   #5 Helen - London 16:25  |  * BEN JABO 28/04/08   9.   No Brod. 16:45  |  Helen 28/04/08   10.   Ben Jabo, 17:02  |  Helen 28/04/08   11.   Helen #9 17:18  |  Brod 28/04/08   12.   I`m waiting for Blair, et al. to get Palestinians to do one thing 17:27  |  McQueen 28/04/08   13.   "Bottleneck" - For Terrorists 17:43  |  IW 28/04/08   14.   Lokshen Brod... 17:52  |  Helen 28/04/08   15.   about those outposts 18:02  |  whoa ellie 28/04/08   16.   One Step Closer to Hamas Takeover of Judea & Samaria 18:02  |  ZADOK 28/04/08   17.   for HELEN 18:28  |  Rozz 28/04/08   18.   #4 absolute sweden 20:01  |  jehiel chaleff 28/04/08   19.   First Carter, Now Blair 21:16  |  Mike 28/04/08   20.   Helen - nice slip up 21:31  |  Michael 28/04/08   21.   # 12 -Mcqueen-I am waiting for Pals to 22:04  |  Bobby 28/04/08   22.   # 3 Aounist. I agree .Only Iran can clean this mess. 22:06  |  Bobby 28/04/08   23.   At last Blair the blah has achieved something. 23:19  |  Stephen. 28/04/08   24.   #10 Helen - England 23:22  |  * BEN JABO 28/04/08   25.   # 3.Aounist. Iran cannot even feed its people.. 23:42  |  Stephen. 28/04/08   26.   #22 Bobby - Toronto 00:49  |  * BEN JABO 29/04/08   27.   Helen of London 02:02  |  Akiva P 29/04/08   28.   Helen in London 02:25  |  Free Gilad Shalit 29/04/08   29.   Since when does Tony dictate or determine our security?? 02:35  |  Free Gilad Shalit 29/04/08   30.   LIFT THE ROADBLOCKS!! 09:17  |  * BEN JABO 29/04/08   31.   #3 YAYY!! Iran can remove Gaza road block..... 12:09  |  Magnify 29/04/08   32.   To #25 Stephen: With oil price at 130$, Iran is doing very well 14:39  |  Aounist 29/04/08   33.   Free gilad shalit, free your mind. 17:06  |  Helen 29/04/08   34.   Akiva 17:12  |  Helen 29/04/08   35.   Ben Jabo 17:19  |  Helen 29/04/08   36.   #34 Helen to Akiva 17:41  |  * BEN JABO 29/04/08   37.   Blair Peace 12:46  |  Poppy 01/05/08   38.   #35 Helen 02:57  |  * BEN JABO 02/05/08

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