[Previous entry: "  Dear Mike, Iraq sucks"] [Next entry: "Blair's mission on Africa"]

10/06/2004:

"Israel: Palestinian State Shelved with U.S. Blessing"

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'' effectively dismissed by Weisglass.

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.

Weisglass's message, coinciding with a big Israeli offensive in Gaza, could help Sharon win over far-right foes opposed to abandoning the territory and challenging his grip on power.

``The significance of our (unilateral) disengagement plan is the freezing of the peace process. It supplies the formaldehyde necessary so there is no political process with Palestinians,'' Weisglass said in an interview published in the Haaretz daily.

``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,'' Weisglass said.

Full Article: Reuters