A security barrier that Israel is erecting to prevent terrorists from infiltrating its territory is detrimental to the peace process, France's foreign minister said yesterday in Paris.

　　Israel insists the barrier is needed to thwart suicide bombers trying to cross over from Palestinian areas. But France and other nations have criticized the barrier as a defacto seizure of Palestinian land because it cuts into the West Bank.

　　Dominique de Villepin said the barrier should be rerouted to follow "international requirements," an apparent reference to the so-called Green Line - the border that existed between Israel and the West Bank before the 1967 war.

　　"Everyone understands the necessity to every country, to Israel, of its need for security. It is the first duty of a country," de Villepin said.

　　His comments come on the second day of Israeli President Moshe Katsav's four-day, pomp-filled state visit - one of the highest honors France accords to foreign heads of state.

　　France has been critical of Israel and has called for it to dismantle Jewish settlements and lift trade and travel clampdowns that have crippled Palestine.

　　(The Associated Press)