Israeli defence minister says no peace deal imminent

JERUSALEM, Aug 10 (Reuters) A peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians will not be reached for at least three to five years, an Israeli newspaper reported Israel's defence minister as saying.

The Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth said today that in private conversations, Defence Minister Ehud Barak said the idea of reaching a peace deal with the Palestinians anytime soon is a ''fantasy'' and that Israel will not withdraw from the occupied West Bank before finding a solution to Palestinian rocket attacks, ''which will take between three to five years''.

Barak also said he would not approve the removal of roadblocks from the West Bank, despite assurances given this week by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that hundreds of checkpoints would be removed.

Barak said that Olmert's meetings with Abbas will not lead to a final peace accord.

''What will determine the situation in the end is if Abu Mazen (Abbas) and (Palestinian Prime Minister) Salam Fayyad are capable of implementing anything in the West Bank,'' Barak is quoted as saying.

Barak, a former prime minister, failed to make peace with the Palestinians during his brief tenure despite a lengthy Camp David summit with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and U.S.

President Bill Clinton.

REUTERS AK VC1139