U.S. Envoys, Sharon Discuss His Plan to Pull Out of Settlements

A team of senior U.S. envoys met Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon amid a bustle of diplomatic activity over his proposal to withdraw from a number of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and West Bank.

It was the second visit in less than a month by the three diplomats, who are seeking details on Sharon’s proposal to pull away from the Palestinians if Israel determines there is no hope for productive talks under a U.S.-backed peace plan.

The envoys -- Stephen Hadley, deputy national security advisor; Elliott Abrams, Mideast specialist for the National Security Council; and William J. Burns, assistant secretary of State -- are to meet with other Israeli officials today. The Israeli officials hope to lay the groundwork for a Sharon visit with President Bush in Washington in coming weeks.

Sharon has proposed withdrawing from most or all of the 21 Gaza Strip settlements, home to about 7,500 people, and an unspecified number of settlements in the West Bank as part of his so-called disengagement plan.

U.S. officials have a long list of questions about the proposed pullout from Gaza, including whether Israel would leave troops stationed there, where the settlers would go and who would pay for the move. They also want to know more about the plan for the West Bank. And they want to ensure that Israel coordinates any moves with the Palestinian Authority.

“What’s on their minds is Sharon’s disengagement plan. They’d like to hear more about it,” said Paul Patin, spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.

Under the plan, which Sharon first outlined in December, Israel would pull back voluntarily to what the prime minister calls a security line, a provisional border that has yet to be defined. Sharon says the move would give Israel defensible borders by eliminating isolated settlements deep inside areas that are surrounded by large Palestinian populations.

Palestinian officials worry that the boundary would end up following a barrier Israel has been building around the West Bank and, in some cases, deep inside it. Israel defends the barrier as essential for keeping out suicide bombers, but the Palestinians view it as a way to seize land they envision as part of an eventual Palestinian state.

Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat told legislators Thursday that he welcomed a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip but only as the start of a complete pullout that would include the West Bank. He said any withdrawal should result from face-to-face talks under the peace plan, which has stalled in recent months.

The Palestinian Authority will maintain law and order in areas Israel vacates, Arafat said.

The Maariv newspaper reported Thursday that it had obtained a draft of disengagement alternatives prepared for Sharon by Giora Eiland, the prime minister’s national security advisor and a retired general.

According to the draft, Israel would initially abandon all but three of the 21 Gaza settlements, plus four sparsely populated settlements in the northern West Bank, the newspaper said. Later, 15 to 20 of the 125 West Bank settlements would be evacuated, according to the Maariv report.

Meanwhile Thursday, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom met in Cairo with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak over what role Egypt might play if Israel removes residents and troops from Gaza.

Egypt shares a border with the strip and is concerned that Gaza, already plagued by fighting among Palestinian groups, could fall into anarchy if Israel pulls out. Mubarak has made it clear that Egypt has no desire to police fellow Arabs in Gaza -- a task, he said, that should be left to the Palestinians.

Some Israelis fear that a pullout could leave militant groups such as Hamas in charge. Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin told reporters this week that his group had no interest in serving as a Gaza security force.

Also to be determined is whether Israel’s army would keep control of a narrow band of land along the border that Israel says is a major passage for smuggling weapons into Gaza.

During the 90-minute meeting in Cairo, Mubarak promised to bolster enforcement on the Egyptian side of the border to hamper smuggling, according to Israeli media reports.

Egyptian officials have shuttled between the Israelis and Palestinians in an effort to restart the peace talks and persuade Palestinian militant factions to declare a cease-fire.

Shalom said after the session that any evacuation would be coordinated with Egypt.

“Undoubtedly an Israeli withdrawal from the area is also of concern to Egypt. They share a common border with Gaza and naturally seek coordination. These matters are of concern to us as well, since we would not want such a move to result in loss of control, should the plan be implemented,” Shalom said on Israel Radio.

Meanwhile, preparations are underway for a possible meeting next week between Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart, Ahmed Korei. Aides are to meet Sunday to arrange the talks. Israeli media have said the meeting will take place Tuesday, but Korei has said no date has been set.

The men have not met since Korei took office in October, despite repeated meetings between their deputies to organize such talks.