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01/03/2006:

"Israel's Sharon aims to scrap peace plan - report"

JERUSALEM, Jan 2 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon plans eventually to scrap a U.S.-led "road map" to peace with the Palestinians and instead seek Washington's blessing for annexing occupied West Bank land, a newspaper said on Monday.

The report by senior staff of Maariv newspaper gave no source, but Sharon's initial plans for last year's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip were first floated in a similar way.

Sharon's spokesman declined comment, while a senior Israeli political source dismissed the report as "pure speculation".

A senior Palestinian official said he doubted whether the United States or the European Union would endorse the plan described by Maariv.
The paper said Sharon, who is up for re-election in March, would argue that Israel was justified in abandoning the peace plan and setting borders unilaterally because of the failure of the Palestinians to crack down on militant groups.