U.S. Envoys Meet With Sharon, Korei on Israeli Plan to Leave Gaza

Three senior U.S. diplomats returned here Thursday for talks on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s proposed unilateral pullback from the Gaza Strip as the battle within the Israeli leader’s party over a vote on the plan began to take shape.

The envoys -- making their third visit since mid-February -- met with Sharon as part of negotiations over his “disengagement” plan, which will likely be the focus of his U.S. visit with President Bush in two weeks.

The session occurred a few hours after the three met with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Korei in the West Bank town of Jericho. The envoys are Stephen Hadley, deputy national security advisor; Elliott Abrams, Middle East expert with the National Security Council; and Assistant Secretary of State William J. Burns.

It was the first time during their recent visits that the diplomats sat down with Korei, who a day earlier had offered conditional support for Sharon’s proposed closing of most or all Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. In a speech Wednesday, Korei welcomed an Israeli evacuation as a gesture toward peace, but only if it were followed by full withdrawal from the West Bank as well.

Korei described Thursday’s meeting between the Americans and officials of his government as a “comprehensive discussion” in which the Palestinians made clear their demand that Israel negotiate the terms of a withdrawal with them.

The Palestinians asked what promises the Bush administration was making to Israel in support of a withdrawal. Saeb Erekat, the Palestinians’ chief negotiator, said the American officials asserted that they were making “no guarantees to any side” but that the U.S. remained committed to the “road map” peace plan.

The Americans called upon the Palestinians to fulfill their obligations under the peace initiative, including reforming Palestinian security forces and cracking down on militant groups, Erekat said. “The message was clear, decisive and very straightforward,” he said.

Sharon met with the three diplomats Thursday. There was no immediate comment from either side on those discussions.

The envoys’ visit -- paving the way for an April 14 meeting between Sharon and Bush in Washington -- comes at a crucial juncture.

Sharon needs the blessing of the U.S. for his disengagement plan -- which calls for pulling out of most or all of the Gaza Strip and possibly a portion of the West Bank -- to win political approval at home. This week, his Likud Party agreed to hold a referendum on the proposal among its 200,000 members after the Bush meeting.

Meanwhile, Sharon is facing the possibility of indictment. The state prosecutor has recommended charging the prime minister with receiving bribes from a well-connected Israeli developer, and a decision is expected in coming weeks.

Israeli officials have expressed optimism that Sharon will come back from the summit with commitments that would enable him to lay out details of the withdrawal and what the U.S. would be offering in return.

According to Israeli media reports, Sharon is seeking written assurances from the U.S. that will strengthen Israel’s claim to a handful of large settlement blocs in Palestinian areas under any final peace agreement. But American officials say it is unclear how much backing the Bush administration will give Sharon and what form that support will take.

Amid the latest round of diplomacy, Likud began gearing up for its vote. Groups representing Jewish settlers and their allies outlined plans to persuade rank-and-file party members to oppose the withdrawal, which they view as rewarding terrorism and abandoning their aspirations for a Greater Israel that would encompass the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In one tactic, settlers would visit the homes of Likud voters.

Sharon too has begun to argue his case. Speaking Wednesday before a conference on high-tech industries, Sharon said Israel was forced to act unilaterally because it lacked a negotiating partner on the Palestinian side and faced growing world pressure to make undesirable concessions. “There is no possibility of reaching an agreement; Israel must act alone,” he said.

In other developments Thursday, Israeli soldiers captured 12 Palestinians after a shootout at a psychiatric hospital in Bethlehem where the suspects, linked by Israel to suicide attacks, had taken shelter.

Near Hebron, settlers again clashed with Israeli soldiers at the site of an illegal outpost that the military had dismantled the day before. Settlers returned to rebuild a makeshift structure that had served as a synagogue near a settlement known as Kiryat Arba. At least 10 protesters were reported arrested.

A United Nations agency announced that it was suspending food shipments to refugee camps in the Gaza Strip because the Israeli government had imposed new restrictions on access to the area that made it difficult to retrieve the empty containers. The U.N. Relief and Works Agency delivers food to 600,000 people in the Gaza Strip -- about half the area’s Palestinian residents.

Israeli forces tightened security at crossings into Gaza after a March 14 double suicide bombing that killed 10 Israelis in the port of Ashdod.