Palestinian institutions must be preserved - Annan

BANJUL, July 2 (Reuters) U N Secretary General Kofi Annan today called Israel's missile attack on the Palestinian premier's office ''inadvisable'', saying Palestinian institutions must be preserved as the basis of a West Asia peace.

An Israeli helicopter fired a missile into the empty office of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh today in an offensive to underline its threats to target the Hamas leadership unless an abducted Israeli soldier is freed.

''I remain very concerned about the need to preserve Palestinian institutions and infrastructure. They will be the basis for an eventual two-state solution, and now that's in the interests of both Israel and the Palestinians,'' Annan told a news conference at an African Union summit in Gambia.

''It would therefore seem inadvisable to carry out actions that would have the opposite effect,'' he added.

Israel, which pulled out of the Gaza Strip last year, sent troops and tanks into the south of the territory on Wednesday after Palestinian gunmen, some from the armed wing of Hamas, seized Corporal Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid a week ago.

REUTERS SHB BST2215