Abbas urges leaders avoid WBank in Israel festivity

RAMALLAH, West Bank, April 28 (Reuters) - Presidents, prime ministers and other dignitaries who attend Israel's 60th anniversary celebrations next month will be shunned by Palestinian leaders if they visit the occupied West Bank.

Palestinian officials said the decision by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his government in the West Bank to temporarily boycott world leaders who visit the West Bank during Israeli festivities amounted to a symbolic protest.

It was not clear if any did plan to go there.

Some 700,000 Palestinians fled or were expelled on Israel's founding in 1948, a day Palestinians call the Nakba, or "catastrophe", and mark with sombre ceremonies and rallies.

"Whoever participates in such (Israeli) events will be persona non grata," said one Palestinian official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

"We will be marking the Nakba. They (visiting leaders) have to be a bit more sensitive about the feelings of the Palestinian people," said a second Palestinian official.

Israel is expected to host at least six current heads of state, including U.S. President George W. Bush, for the 60th anniversary celebrations.

Palestinian officials said leaders who attended those festivities and went to the West Bank would not be banned for life and could meet Palestinian leaders in the West Bank at a later date.

Bush plans to meet Abbas in Egypt after visiting Israel, and Palestinian officials said those talks would go ahead as planned.

The temporary boycott could help bolster Abbas's standing among Palestinian refugees.

There are now more than 4.3 million registered refugees, many of whom live in camps in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and elsewhere.

The refugee issue is one of the thorniest facing Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in trying to hammer out a statehood deal this year.