Bush lauds plan for Israeli pullout

WASHINGTON -- President Bush yesterday embraced Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's declared intention to unilaterally withdraw Israeli forces and settlers from the Gaza Strip, saying such a move should not be viewed as a hindrance to the US-backed road map to peace in the region.

In his most detailed comments on the issue to date, Bush said he didn't want to prejudge the specifics of what the Israeli leader is offering. "But if he were to decide to withdraw" from Gaza, "it would be a positive development," he said. He was speaking at a joint news conference with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, who was visiting Bush at his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Sharon, dogged by a corruption probe and trying to hold together a fractious center-right coalition, is scheduled to meet with Bush at the White House tomorrow.

Mubarak, whose nation borders the southwestern edge of the volatile Gaza Strip and who has sought to help mediate the conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis, also embraced the idea of a withdrawal, but added, "I would like the withdrawal to coincide with the road map, which is very important."

The Egyptian president said a plan that doesn't link a pullout with broader talks aimed at establishing a Palestinian state would be rejected.

Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and returned some territory to Palestinian control through the Oslo peace process in the mid-1990s. That accord broke down, and the violence since September 2000 has undermined attempts to start fresh Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

Mubarak's meeting with Bush kicked off a busy week of Middle East diplomacy. At his meeting with Bush tomorrow, Sharon is expected to announce the details of his plan to withdraw from Gaza and parts of the West Bank in exchange for US assurances that Israel can retain some larger settlement blocs.

Yesterday, Sharon identified West Bank settlements he says Israel must keep in any agreement: Maaleh Adumim and Givat Zeev near Jerusalem; Ariel in the center of the West Bank; Kiryat Arba near Hebron; and the Etzion bloc south of Jerusalem.

Most Palestinians view the settlements as a major impediment to crafting a lasting peace. Many of Sharon's allies on the Israeli political right contend that his plan to withdraw from Gaza will be perceived as a victory for Palestinian militant groups that have waged a 3 1/2-year campaign of bombings and shooting attacks against Israeli civilians and soldiers. Many of Sharon's allies also object to what they see as his abandonment of the settlers, whom he has championed throughout his career.

Seeking to fend off the pressure from the right wing, Sharon has sought the approval of his Likud party for the withdrawal plan through a referendum to be held at the end of the month. But his party is deeply divided, and endorsement of his plan is far from assured.

Middle East specialists say Sharon was pressed to consider a policy of unilateral disengagement, including the construction of a West Bank barrier, when his government's forceful response to terrorist attacks failed to halt the violence.

"This is something he did not come to office supporting," said Tamara Wittes, a Middle East specialist with the Brookings Institution, a liberal think tank in Washington, D.C.

Some Palestinians and their supporters in the region fear the move could disengage Israel from the peace process.

Bush's comments yesterday seemed aimed at easing those concerns. He was careful to note that Mubarak, a strong backer of the Palestinians, supports an Israeli withdrawal.

"We both are in agreement that if Israel makes the decision to withdraw, it doesn't replace the road map," Bush said.

"And I really welcomed my friend's advice. He knows the area well. And he's been in touch with the parties, and he has got good judgment on this matter."

Bruce Kuniholm, a Middle East specialist at Duke University, said neither the Bush administration, the Palestinians, nor the Israelis want to be seen as abandoning their principles.

"People can spin it different ways," Kuniholm said of the withdrawal plan. "If whatever happens is mutually negotiated, then it's in everybody's interest. There are all kinds of reasons why there should be a pullout, but it should be mutually agreed upon and negotiated."

Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.