Qurei denies helping build wall

Israeli TV says Palestinian companies supplied cement for the barrier

Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qurei has rejected claims that a company owned by his family is supplying cement for Israel's barrier in the West Bank.

Mr Qurei is on a tour of Europe to urging opposition to the controversial wire-and-concrete barrier.

An Israeli television station reported on Tuesday that the Qurei family's al-Quds Cement Company supplied cement for concrete slabs used in the barrier.

A Palestinian parliamentary panel is looking into the claims.

The committee is also investigating similar claims made against other Palestinian-owned companies based in Gaza and Egypt.

Israeli television claimed cement supplied by al-Quds company was used to build a section of the barrier which runs right outside Mr Qurei's house in Abu Dis, east Jerusalem.

Mr Qurei said the report was not worth the paper it was written on.

Mr Qurei says the barrier formalises illegal Israeli land acquisitions, effectively destroying all hope of a "two-state" solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel says it is building the barrier to protect itself from attacks by Palestinian militants.