Sharon clashes with ministers over Gaza plan

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, April 05, 2004

Sharon clashes with ministers over Gaza plan

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon clashed on Sunday with hard-line ministers over his plan to withdraw from most of the Gaza Strip and some of the West Bank, political sources said.

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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon clashed on Sunday with hard-line ministers over his plan to withdraw from most of the Gaza Strip and some of the West Bank, political sources said.

Sharon plans to meet President Bush on April 14, after the Jewish Passover holiday, to seek his endorsement for the withdrawal that Palestinians welcome but want to see carried out through negotiations.

In Gaza, former Palestinian security chief Mohammad Dahlan, widely seen as a possible successor to President Yasser Arafat, said chaos could ensue in Gaza if the Palestinian Authority failed to prepare for an Israeli pullout.

Housing Minister Effie Eitam and Tourism Minister Benjamin Elon sharply criticized Sharon during the weekly cabinet meeting for taking the plan to Washington before bringing it before ministers.

"I called on the prime minister not to go to Washington immediately following the holiday," Eitam said on Channel 2, referring both to the failure to present the plan to the cabinet and a bribery probe against Sharon.

Elon and Eitam, whose parties represent the Jewish settlement lobby, have spoken against the pullout in recent trips abroad and Sharon responded to their criticism on Sunday with some of his own, the sources said.

"Anyone who feels ill at ease can get up and leave," Sharon said, according to the sources.

Washington wants the Israeli pullout from Gaza to breathe life into a U.S.-backed peace "road map" long stalled by violence, seeking to avoid the appearance of a unilateral move to separate from Palestinians that Sharon first proposed.

Source: agencies

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