Sharon Sets Hard Line on Settlements Policy
By JAMES BENNET - NEW YORK TIMES
Here ya go, John. I expect to see post after post from you about how the victimized Pals are suffering from that mean old Sharon's refusal to compromise.
JERUSALEM, May 13 - Ahead of a meeting next week with President Bush, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon set a hard line today on retaining Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Mr. Sharon dismissed as not "on the horizon" any talk of changing Israel's settlement policy, and he dismissed suggestions that the Bush administration was pressing him to dismantle settlements.
During a visit here over the weekend, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said that he raised the issue of settlements with Mr. Sharon, and that President Bush would pursue the matter when he sees Mr. Sharon on May 20.
In an interview with Israeli television, Mr. Powell said he told Mr. Sharon that settlements were "a problem," and he said the president would speak to the prime minister "in very open, straightforward, honest, candid terms about settlement activity."
A new American-backed peace plan, known as the road map, calls on Israel to dismantle all settlement outposts built since March 2001, at the same time that the Palestinian Authority cracks down on terrorism. It also calls for a freeze on Israeli settlements. Mr. Sharon insists that the Palestinians must end incitement and dismantle all terrorist organizations before Israel can begin to make concessions.
REST AT: nytimes.com |
