US urges Sharon to halt expansion

US PRESIDENT George W Bush urged Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday to abandon plans to expand a key Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

Sharon said he agreed with Bush on the general outlines of the internationally-negotiated "road map" peace plan, but added that some settlements in the West Bank were considered part of Israel and would remain under his government's control.

Standing at Bush's side, Sharon also said that Israel would not move forward on the road map until the Palestinians took more steps to disarm militant groups.

While Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas had begun to act against terror organisations, Sharon said recent violence against Israel showed that "terror is still continuing" and that Abbas "must take more steps".

Bush had praise for the Palestinian leadership, but also made clear more must be done.

"I appreciate the fact that they've taken some action on security," Bush said of the Palestinians after he and Sharon met at the President's Texas ranch.

"We want to continue to work with them on consolidating security forces."

The expansion issue amounted to a rare, if gentle, nudge from Bush to Sharon and overshadowed a meeting originally designed to give the Israeli leader support for a controversial plan to dismantle all 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and four in the northern West Bank.

The US has objected to an Israeli plan to add 3,650 homes to the West Bank's largest settlement, Maaleh Adumim. The plan would cut off Arab neighbourhoods in Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank.

Israel insists it has the right to continue expanding these settlements. The US opposes any further construction there, saying it threatens peace with the Palestinians and violates the "road map" that calls for a settlement freeze.

Bush said he reiterated to Sharon the road map's immediate demands: that Israel remove any unauthorised outposts in the Palestinian territories and "meet its road map obligations regarding settlements in the West Bank".

Sharon promised Bush Israel would "meet all its obligations under the road map" as regards settlements.

The Gaza pullout, scheduled for July and August, would remove about 9,000 Israelis from their homes.