Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat condemned Israel's building of a security fence along its West Bank border as an "act of racism" Monday, and rejected fierce U.S. criticism of his Palestinian Authority. Arafat lashed out against the planned $220 million fence, which Israel started building Sunday and says is intended to stop suicide bombers, after a Palestinian blew himself up on the frontier near an Israeli border patrol. No one else was hurt. Arafat's comments reflected his deteriorating relationships with Israel and the United States, which have criticized him repeatedly as they seek reforms of the Palestinian Authority and as President Bush works on a Middle East peace plan.

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