TEHRAN Palestinian self-rule government announced on Wednesday that the Zionist regime is using depleted uranium bullets against the Palestinian civilians.

According to Dubai television, the Zionist regime has used the bullets in the West Bank and Gaza Strip against the Palestinian demonstrators.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo on Wednesday accused Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak of being a "war criminal" because of an Israeli Army policy of assassinating suspected Palestinian militants.

"Barak and his government are sending Israeli death squads to kill Palestinian civilians. These are war crimes. Mr. Barak and the members of his government are war criminals who should be prosecuted," Abed Rabbo told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"The International Court of Justice should prosecute them for their crimes," he added.

Palestinian legislator Hannan Ashrawi added: "The Palestinians are collecting evidence on these crimes.

"We are working alongside other Arabs and human rights groups to bring these Israeli officials, Barak and his government, to be prosecuted."

The Israeli Army, often using snipers, has killed 19 Palestinians it suspects of orchestrating attacks against Israel, including officials in Yasser Arafat's self-rule Palestinian Authority, the Palestine Media Center said in a "red paper" distributed Wednesday.

"So far over 19 cases of deliberate murders against known Palestinian activists have been documented," it said. "In addition and in the most recent days we have been witnessing a new lax open fire policy issued by the Israeli Army command."

"This allows Israeli soldiers to open fire with live ammunition almost indiscriminately for the mere suspicion of feeling a threat," the report added.

A lawyer for a slain Palestinian official's widow filed a petition with the Israeli Supreme Court on Tuesday against the assassination policy.

Last week, Israel's Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh told Army Radio that the Israeli military would continue its practice. "We will hit all those who are involved in terrorist operations, attacks or preparations for attacks, and the fact of having a position within the Palestinian Authority confers no immunity on anyone," Sneh said.

The ****Washington Post**** reported on Monday that the Israeli government has a plan for assassination of certain Palestinian figures. The ****Post**** reported, "In a planed manner, the Israeli government acts in this regard and has firmed its actions."

One of the recent victims of Israeli terrorism is Arab Thabet who was active in peacemaking between Palestinian and the Zionists.

In addition to Thabet, who was killed on the first day of 2001, the Israeli government have targeted Samii Malbi, Hussein Abayat, Seyd Moussavi and Fathi Shaqaqi. Attempts on Khalid Mashal's life failed.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia also threw their support behind the Palestinians saying there could be no peace in the Middle East without Palestinian sovereignty over Arab Bait-ul-Moqaddas and the refugees' right to return.

The Saudi-owned pan-Arab ****Al-Hayat**** daily said on Wednesday that foreign ministers from both countries, strong regional allies of the U.S., unveiled their position after talks in Riyadh on Tuesday to discuss the latest peace proposals by outgoing U.S. President Bill Clinton.

"Any solution or settlement to the Palestinian cause that does not include the legitimate Palestinian demands and rights, including the right of return for Palestinians and sovereignty over Arab Bait-ul-Moqaddas ... a solution that does not guarantee stability in the Middle East," it quoted Prince Saud of Saudi Arabia as saying.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said: "The right of return for Palestinian refugees is the core of the Palestinian cause... We are all working to protect these rights and reach a just settlement despite the many complications".

The official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) also quoted Prince Saud as saying: "We reiterate our firm position that Bait-ul-Moqaddas is an Arab, Islamic issue, and is not negotiable or subject to compromise.

"The success of any (peace) efforts will continue to be linked to how much these efforts abide by ... the principle of land for peace," he added.

Clinton's peace proposals to the Israelis and Palestinians would give the Palestinians sovereignty over Gaza and the "vast majority" of the West Bank but deny refugees and millions of their descendants the right to return home.

The plan would also give Palestinians control of Arab areas in Bait-ul-Moqaddas and offer a compromise on the city's holy sites.

Israel occupied Arab Al-Qods in 1967 Middle East War and annexed it in a move not recognized internationally. It regards all of Bait-ul-Moqaddas as its capital, while the Palestinians want Al-Qods as the capital of their future state.

Israel has accepted Clinton's ideas as a basis for continuing talks, but Palestinian negotiators have rejected them as too pro-Israeli.