Sharon 'may pull down Jewish settlements'

Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, facing a slip in his popularity, has told his Cabinet he will consider unilateral moves, possibly drawing a border and dismantling some settlements.

But Palestinian and Israeli sceptics dismissed the news as a public relations move by the long-time champion of the settlements.

In another development, Israel expelled three Palestinians from the West Bank to Gaza last night. In all, six of 18 on a list drawn up by the military have been expelled. Israel says the expulsions are meant to stop the Palestinians from carrying out terror attacks, but Palestinians and human rights groups have denounced the practice.

Sharon he told his Cabinet that he would not rule out unilateral steps, pledging to bring any new moves to the Cabinet for approval.

Sharon, a hardliner who promoted growth of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip through decades of Cabinet positions, is under increasing domestic pressure to show some results from his pledge to restore peace and security for his people after three years of violence with the Palestinians.

Also, the US administration, up to now supportive of Sharon’s harsh military measures against the Palestinians, citing Israel’s right of self defence, has been increasingly critical of Israeli restrictions against the Palestinian population and the barrier designed to keep Palestinian attackers out, which dips deep into the West Bank to include settlements on the ”Israeli” side.

Sharon told his Cabinet that he remained committed to the US-backed “road map” peace plan, but did not rule out unilateral steps, a Cabinet statement said.

Sharon told the Yediot Ahronot newspaper 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 said.

Palestinian officials and Israeli liberals were sceptical. ”We’ve heard many promises, but nothing has come of them,” said Israeli opposition leader Shimon Peres, adding that the removal even of small settlements would break up Sharon’s centre-right coalition. “I don’t think Sharon is in a hurry to take apart his government,” Peres added.

Under the plan reported in the media yesterday, Israel would draw its own border if peace efforts were bogged down and the frontier would run along the West Bank barrier currently under construction. Sharon reportedly told the ministers he would consider a reroute of upcoming segments, which as currently planned would go deep into the West Bank in some areas, and bring them closer to Israel.

Israel would also uproot smaller settlements, and residents would be moved to the Negev Desert or to larger settlement areas in the West Bank, according to the reported plan. Israel would withdraw from Palestinian towns and release some of the thousands of Palestinian prisoners it held.

The leaks were published at a time of renewed effort to revive the road map, stalled almost since its introduction in June. Both sides have failed to meet even the most basic requirements – a settlement freeze and the removal of dozens of illegal West Bank outposts by Israel, and the dismantling of militant groups by the Palestinians.