The International Court of Justice (IJC) was to deliver yesterday a damning verdict on Israel's controversial West Bank barrier declaring it illegal and calling for it to be torn down.

As judges at the UN's highest legal body began to read their lengthy ruling at 1300 GMT, leaked copies of the judgement were already circulating on the Internet.

According to the leaked verdict, the court in The Hague said the wall was "contrary to international law" and that Israel, "an occupying power," should cease construction immediately and dismantle those sections already built.

Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei described it as an "historic decision" for Palestinians, but an Israeli official said the Jewish state would ignore the non-binding ruling and continue extending the barrier.

The first sections of the text as read in The Hague appeared identical to those published on the Internet.

Originally planned to stretch almost 700 km, the barrier is a network of electric fencing, barbed wire and concrete walls that gouges deep into the West Bank to snake around a number of Jewish settlements on Palestinian territory.

Israel insists the barrier is necessary to keep out Palestinian militants and prevent attacks on its soil.

Palestinians denounce it as an "apartheid wall," seeing it as little more than a land grab pre-empting a definitive demarcation of the border of their promised future state.

Amid huge controversy, and against a backdrop of continued violence in the Middle East, the ICJ -- also known as the World Court -- was asked by the UN General Assembly to assess "the legal consequences" of the barrier.

The reading of the ruling, which is advisory and non-binding, was expected to take more than two hours. The final judgements were due at the end.

According to a 59-page version published on a Palestinian website, the court ruled by 14 to one that "the construction of the wall being built by Israel, the occupying power, in the occupied Palestinian territory, including in and around east Jerusalem, and its associated regime, are contrary to international law."

Israel's Haaretz newspaper, quoting documents it obtained, also reported that the ICJ would rule against the barrier.

"It is under an obligation to cease forthwith the works of construction of the wall being built in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, (and) to dismantle forthwith the structure therein situated," the document says, according to the versions circulating on the Internet.

A senior Israeli government official said that regardless of the verdict, construction would continue.

"Israel has no reason to submit to a plainly absurd decision which pays no account to the role of the security fence in the fight against terrorism," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The leaked rulings said the ICJ would tell Israel to pay compensation to Palestinians whose property had been damaged by construction work.

"Israel is under an obligation to make reparation for all damage caused by the construction of the wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem," it said.

It also asked the United Nations to take action to halt the construction work.

Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner said the ICJ had "no jurisdiction" to rule over the barrier and said that it should only come up for debate after Israel's planned pullout from the Gaza Strip is completed at the end of 2005.

"It will be up to us and the Palestinians, together, as part of an agreement that I hope will come after the withdrawal from Gaza to discuss all questions, including this anti-terrorist barrier," he told Radio France Internationale.

Judges at Israel's highest court ruled last month that part of the barrier should be rerouted north of Jerusalem because it infringed the rights of some 35 000 Palestinian inhabitants.

But the supreme court also confirmed in effect the government's right to build the barrier on security grounds.

PLO legal advisor Michael Tarazi told AFP he believed the result would strengthen the hand of moderates.

"If what the media reports is accurate it is going to be very hopeful. This is really going to help empower some of the Palestinian moderates who say, 'Look, see there are other ways than violence to try to enforce your rights'," he said. – Sapa-AFP.