The chief of the Palestinian negotiating team, Ahmad Qurai, was searched roughly by Israeli soldiers while returning from Jordan on Monday.

Sources in the former prime ministers' office said Qurai and his family were held up for over an hour at the Allenby Bridge border crossing knowing that he was scheduled to meet the Israeli foreign minister and the Israeli negotiating team.

Last November Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint near Jerusalem blocked Qurai from entering the city en route to meet Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni. That meeting was cancelled.

Monday's meeting went ahead as planned, the sources said.

KUNA