Palestinian local affairs minister Saeb Erakat on Friday condemned Israel's plans to try Marwan Barghuti, the West Bank chief of YASSER ARAFAT'S Fatah movement, saying Israel had no jurisdiction in the case.

The Israeli justice ministry said in a statement Thursday that Barghuti, along with four other "terrorist chiefs," will face a civil rather than military court at a trial whose dates have yet to be announced.

Erakat issued a statement that "condemned the Israeli government decision to try Marwan Barghuti and other Palestinian leaders, stating that Israel has no legal and judicial jurisdiction over the Palestinian people.

"This Israeli decision demonstrates that the Israeli government had cancelled all agreements signed, and that the Palestinian Authority will not accept the decision or the result of the trial which will be null and void in accordance with international law," he said.

Barghuti, 43, is accused by Israeli of heading the Fatah splinter group the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, which have carried out a series of suicide bombings and shooting sprees in Israeli cities and against Jewish settlers in the occupied territories.

Barghuti, who was arrested in Israel's April invasion of Ramallah, is a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, or parliament, and has denied any role in planning the Al Aqsa Brigades' bloody attacks.

Erakat also condemned the Israeli government's decision to close down Al-Quds University's offices in east Jerusalem, which are run by a leading Palestinian moderate, Sari Nusseibeh.

The White House Wednesday rebuked Israel for its "troubling" closure of the administrative offices of the Palestinian Al-Quds university in east Jerusalem, tarring the move as unproductive.

Erakat sent letters Friday urging the immediate intervention of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, and others in the world community in order to revoke all these orders and decisions.AFP