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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (205514)	10/6/2004 4:29:43 PM
From: tejek	Respond to of 1573857

Israel: Palestinian State Shelved with U.S. Blessing Wed Oct 6, 2004 03:22 PM ET (Page 1 of 2) By Mark Heinrich JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel's plan to withdraw from some occupied territory aims to rule out a Palestinian state indefinitely, with full U.S. approval, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's chief of staff said on Wednesday. Dov Weisglass's remarks on the move to give up the Gaza Strip next year while keeping large chunks of the West Bank surprised U.S. diplomats, who said Washington remained dedicated to a "road map" peace plan for a Palestinian state. Sharon, wary of alienating Israel's key ally, said later he still backed the "road map" which was effectively dismissed by Weisglass in an interview published in Haaretz newspaper. Palestinians, whose calls for road map talks have been spurned by Israel's ruling right, condemned Weisglass's message. "I believe he has revealed the true intentions of Sharon. We told the quartet (of U.S.-led peace mediators) eight months ago that the Gaza plan was designed to undermine their road map," said Negotiations Minister Saeb Erekat said. Secretary of State Colin Powell said Washington thought Sharon was still committed to the peace plan: "There was never any doubt in our minds that that represents the prime minister's position and the position of the government of Israel," he said. Weisglass's message, coinciding with a big Israeli offensive in Gaza, could help Sharon win over far-right foes who oppose abandoning the territory and may challenge his grip on power. "The significance of our disengagement plan is the freezing of the peace process. It supplies the formaldehyde necessary so there is no political process with Palestinians," Weisglass said. "When you freeze the process, you prevent the establishment of a Palestinian state ... Effectively, this whole package called a Palestinian state, with all it entails, has been removed indefinitely from our agenda." BUSH STANCE In April, President Bush endorsed Sharon's plan to pull 8,000 settlers from Gaza in 2005 while keeping most of the 230,000 settlers in place in the West Bank. Bush declared that Palestinians could not expect to obtain statehood unless they stamp out militant attacks on Israel. Continued ... reuters.com