"Jewish communities" should be allowed to "grow naturally", Sharon

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, May 12 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ruled out a freeze of settlement activity during a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Sharon's office said Monday, May 12.

Israeli settlement are illegal under international law and U.N. resolutions.

"Our finest youth live there. They are already the third generation, contributing to the state and serving in elite army units. They return home and get married, so then they can't build a house and have children?", Sharon was quoted as telling Powell.

Powell met Sharon Sunday, May 11, in occupied Jerusalem as part of a regional tour aimed at promoting the roadmap for peace in the Middle East.

The blueprint calls on the Palestinians to crack down on resistance groups but also demands Israel freeze settlement activity and pull back to pre-Intifada lines.

Ignoring the fact that settlements are built on occupied lands, Sharon reiterated that what he describes as "Jewish communities" should be allowed to "grow naturally" and asked Powell: "What do you want, for a pregnant woman to have an abortion just because she is a settler?"

Sharon made his comments during a lunch on Sunday which was also attended by Housing Minister Effi Eitam, Transport Minister Avigdor Lieberman, both from the extreme-right, and Justice Minister Tommy Lapid, from the centrist Shinui party.

"What we talked about was the fact that the settlements are a problem," Powell said of his meeting with Sharon in an interview with Israel's second channel.

"Is it possible to bring about a viable Palestinian state without doing something about the settlements activity?" he asked. "This will be one of the most difficult issues we have to deal with."

Around 220,000 settlers occupies around 160 sites in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in addition to 200,000 other Israelis in 12 sites in East Jerusalem, which was occupied in 1967.

Meanwhile, an adviser to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, whom the U.S. administration has boycotted for over a year, bluntly said Powell had failed to achieve the goals of his visit.

"Powell's visit has failed because of Sharon's policies and Israel's refusal to announce it would implement the roadmap," Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP on Sunday may 11.

Expect Nothing

Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath said Monday that any deal on implementing the roadmap for peace had been postponed until after Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon visits Washington at the end of May 2003.

Powell's visit to the region "has led to nothing new on the Israeli-Palestinian track ... because of Ariel Sharon's refusal to give a frank or even tacit acceptance of the roadmap," Shaath said on Egyptian Radio.

"Everything has been postponed until after Sharon returns from his visit to Washington on May 20," said Shaath, who attended talks on Sunday between Powell and Palestinian prime minister Mahmud Abbas.