PM in U.S. for Gaza pullout talks, will meet Rice on Tuesday
By Aluf Benn and Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspndents, Haaretz Service and Agencies
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arrived Tuesday in the United States, where he will discuss his plan for a unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip with U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice later in the day and with U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday.
En route to Washington, Sharon landed briefly in London. He will also stop off in the British capital on his return journey to Israel, and is scheduled to meet British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Friday.
Sharon expects guarantees from Bush in support for the disengagement plan, assurances that no other plan will replace the road map, backing in the fight against terror emanating from territories from which Israel has withdrawn, and a declaration that Israel will not be required to return to the 1967 borders.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said Tuesday that Sharon's plan to retain and expand five large West Bank settlement blocs destroys any chance for peace.
Qureia said the plan "may destroy the whole peace process."
"These tactics destroy any hope for peace," he said. "We will not accept any settlement blocs. And we will not accept any decisions unless the Palestinian Authority is a part of the decision-making process."
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Tuesday that the disengagement plan should not do anything to block the implementation of the two-state solution.
Speaking as Sharon arrived in Washington, Annan said he hoped any withdrawal would take place in the context of the internationally brokered road map to Mideast peace "and is not something that would impede the future creation of two states - a viable Palestinian state living side by side with Israel in peace."
Housing and Construction Minister Effi Eitam (National Religious Party) told Israel Radio on Tuesday that Sharon's trip to the U.S. was intended to pressure the government and Likud party members to support his disengagement plan, and mainly to pressure law enforcement bodies, including the attorney general.
Eitam said that if Sharon's hands were clean and he were completely innocent, he would have waited for the attorney general's decision on the bribery allegations against him, instead of hurrying to meet Bush.
Health Minister Dan Naveh told the radio Tuesday that despite his objection to Sharon's plan, it was wrong to attack the prime minister, who is leaving for an important diplomatic visit.
Hours before leaving the country at around 2 A.M. Tuesday, Sharon said the West Bank settlement of Ma'aleh Adumim would be included in the "Jerusalem envelope" section of the West Bank separation fence. The prime minister also specified five other West Bank settlement areas that would remain under Israeli rule.
As of Monday night, high-level talks were continuing in Washington regarding the formulation of the letters of understanding to be exchanged - the Israeli letter detailing the disengagement plan and the U.S. letter containing guarantees in exchange for Israeli withdrawal.
Sources in Jerusalem said that disagreement remained regarding "one or two words," not on principles. One source said Sharon was displeased with some formulations and directed the Israeli team to word them more clearly.
Sharon wants the American letter to contain declarations regarding the future permanent status, which can be taken as support for the annexation of large blocs of settlement in the West Bank and the elimination of the Palestinian refugees' right of return to Israel. Sources said a final agreement may not be reached until Wednesday's meeting with Bush.
Sources in Jerusalem also said the exchange of letters will not be public, but that the Americans will not be averse to Israel's publication of the letters.
PM names settlements to remain under Israeli rule
Speaking at the start of the traditional Moroccan post-Passover Mimouna festivities in Ma'aleh Adumim, Sharon said the settlement - which is adjacent to Jerusalem - was one of six areas in the West Bank that would remain under Israeli control.
"Ma'aleh Adumim will remain part of the state of Israel forever and ever," Sharon said about the largest settlement in the West Bank. "It will be included in the envelope fence around Jerusalem in order to avoid terror atacks on it and in its environs."
The prime minister also said the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, Givat Ze'ev, Ariel, Kiryat Arba, and enclaves in the West Bank city of Hebron would all remain under Israeli sovereignty. This was the first time Sharon has detailed the settlements Israel wants to keep.
"Ariel, the Etzion Bloc, Giv'at Zeev will remain in Israeli hands and will continue to develop," Sharon said. "Hebron and Kiryat Arba will be strong. Only an Israeli initiative will keep us from being dragged into dangerous initiatives like the Geneva and Saudi initiatives."
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said no peace can exist unless Palestinians control the West Bank and Jerusalem as well as the Gaza Strip.
"With this statement, Sharon is closing the door before any Palestinian-Israeli peace deal," Erekat said Monday. "The withdrawal from Gaza cannot be exchanged for maintaining Israeli occupation in Jerusalem or in the West Bank."
Meanwhile, hundreds of people protesting the disengagement plan walked from Jerusalem toward Ben-Gurion International Airport on Monday night, carrying torches and signs against withdrawal, Army Radio reported. The demonstrators were calling for right-wing parties to quit the government.
Earlier Monday, Bush and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said they would welcome an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as a positive step toward a Middle East peace agreement and a future Palestinian state.
However, Bush warned that a Gaza withdrawal would not take the place of the internationally brokered road map to Middle East peace, which he unveiled in June 2003.
U.S. and Israeli officials last week reached a tentative agreement on key components of the Israeli plan, and sources said Bush is expected to back it as an interim step. The two countries want to make sure the withdrawal does not allow the Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas to cement its grip over Palestinian affairs in Gaza, where the militants have been a powerful force.
While welcoming a pullout from occupied land, the Palestinians have said unless Israel leaves the West Bank entirely there is little hope of reviving the road map, which has been stalled by tit-for-tat Israeli-Palestinian violence.
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