Sharon Discussed Pullout With Jordan’s King
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Jordan’s King Abdullah II held secret talks at the Israeli leader’s desert ranch to discuss a proposed Israeli pullback from parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israeli and Jordanian officials confirmed Friday.
The three-hour lunch meeting Thursday was part of a quiet Israeli lobbying campaign to generate support for the plan, which Palestinians fear is part of an attempt to impose a border on land they want for an independent state.
Sharon and other officials have recently discussed the withdrawal plan with Egyptian, Jordanian and U.S. officials, none of whose governments have indicated support for the idea.
In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, Israeli troops in armored vehicles raided a Palestinian village in search of Hamas militants. Twelve Palestinians were wounded in gun battles. Four Israeli soldiers were wounded when Hamas detonated more than 220 pounds of explosives near a tank. The militant group claimed responsibility.
In Jerusalem, an Israeli was killed by Palestinian militants in a drive-by shooting, a police spokesman said. The man was jogging in a neighborhood that borders the West Bank. The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a group linked to Palestinian Authority leader Yasser Arafat’s Fatah faction, claimed responsibility.
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