Israel's Gaza pull-out delay raises doubts

Israel is delaying its pullout from Gaza and part of the West Bank, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said, citing a religious mourning period that ends in mid-August – but raising doubts about Israel’s readiness and even its resolve in carrying out the evacuation.

Sharon told TV interviewers yesterday that he would delay the forcible evacuation of settlers after a request from Israel’s chief rabbis to honour a three-week period in which Jews mourn the destruction of the biblical Temples in Jerusalem, ending with a one-day fast – falling this year on August 14.