Sharon Floats Plan for Israel Settlements

[Classical_Liberal]

Sharon Floats Plan for Israel Settlements


Sunday November 23, 2003 7:01 PM

By KARIN LAUB

Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, whose popularity has slipped over his failure to end the conflict with the Palestinians, floated the idea of unilateral steps Sunday, with officials telling Israeli media this may include drawing a border and removing some settlements.

In the weekly Cabinet meeting Sunday, Sharon said he remains committed to the U.S.-backed ``road map'' peace plan, which envisions a negotiated deal, with a Palestinian state as a centerpiece, by 2005. But Sharon added that he does not rule out unilateral steps, presumably if efforts to revive the road map fail.

The prime minister did not elaborate, and the comments seemed largely aimed at proving to an increasingly restless Israeli public that he has a plan for ending three years of bloodshed. Sharon's critics include four former security chiefs who recently accused him of stalling to avoid concessions and warned Israel is headed for disaster without a quick solution to the conflict with the Palestinians.

Trying to soften his hardline image, Sharon told Yediot Ahronot daily he would present his new plan soon. ``I just wanted the Israeli public to know that its prime minister has not stopped thinking about how to get out of the impasse with the Palestinians,'' he told the newspaper............

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3422841,00.html