Sharon lays out his terms for a Palestinian state

MIDEAST: In the most detailed picture he has offered so far of how he views a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict…

MIDEAST: In the most detailed picture he has offered so far of how he views a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon endorsed a US-backed peace plan which includes the ultimate creation of an independent Palestinian state.

He said he was ready to accept territorial contiguity for the Palestinians in the West Bank, in speeches yesterday and on Wednesday night. But the Israeli leader, who is expected to be re-elected in a January 28th poll, also attached a series of strict conditions, including the removal from power of Palestinian Authority President Mr Yasser Arafat. Mr Sharon's vision was immediately rejected by Palestinian leaders who said it failed to address their basic demands.

If re-elected, Mr Sharon said he would form a government based on the plan presented by the Bush administration in late October - referred to as the "road map" - and which calls for the creation of a temporary Palestinian state, followed by a fully independent one within three years. The plan has won the backing of the United Nations, Russia and European Union, but is still undergoing revisions.

In the course of implementing the plan, Mr Sharon said Israel would "act to lift military pressure . . . and ease daily life for the Palestinians". Israel, he said, would then agree to the creation of a temporary Palestinian state on some 42 per cent of the West Bank. Mr Sharon said a combination of tunnels and bridges would ensure Palestinians were able to travel from Jenin in the northern West Bank to Hebron in the south, without having to encounter any Israeli army roadblocks.

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But an independent state, he said, would have to be demilitarised, would be barred from signing treaties with enemies of Israel, and its border crossings and airspace would remain under Israeli control. He insisted that a cessation of violence and the removal of Mr Arafat were essential prerequisites to any progress on the political track. Resisting the idea of a strict "predetermined timetable," he said: "We will not move from stage to stage until there is a proved state of quiet relations, a change in the Palestinian manner of government, and growing and strengthening coexistence."

Mr Sharon's remarks were met by a barrage of criticism from far-right politicians who believe the creation of a Palestinian state poses an existential threat to Israel. Mr Effi Eitam, the head of the National Religious Party, said the Prime Minister's readiness to grant the Palestinians a state was "an admission of our failure and a victory for terrorism". Politicians on the left dismissed Mr Sharon's statements as an election ploy. Labour Party parliamentarian Mr Haim Ramon said the Prime Minister was making moderate noises to win the support of centrist voters ahead of the January 28th election.