ISRAEL Sharon details Gaza evacuation

The prime minister said he'll seek U.S. help in the relocation of 7,500.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel would need one to two years to remove virtually all Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in remarks published today, elaborating on evacuation plans first revealed a day earlier.
Speaking to reporters later today, Sharon said he was determined to go ahead with the evacuation of settlements, though he did not mention Gaza specifically.
"It pains me a lot. But I've reached a decision and I am going to carry it out," he said.
U.S. help
Sharon told the Haaretz daily he would seek U.S. approval and possibly financial aid for relocating about 7,500 Gaza residents from 17 settlements to Israel. He said he plans to remove what he called three "problematic" settlements in the West Bank.
Sharon acknowledged that Israel might have difficulty justifying a request for American aid, but said that in the end it would be in Washington's interest to help with the dismantling of settlements.
"They [the Americans] were opposed to the establishment of settlements," Sharon said. "Now they can say 'We warned you,' but the Americans rely on us in the region and what will develop here as part of the president's vision."
Sharon was referring to the U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, whose centerpiece is the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel by 2005.
Haaretz first reported Monday on Sharon's plans to remove Gaza settlements. Sharon then confirmed the plan in a meeting with stunned legislators from his Likud Party.
Sharon's statements were met by confusion and skepticism, while settlers and their political allies threatened to bring down the government. Critics dismissed the remarks as a public relations ploy, possibly meant to deflect from his growing legal troubles in a widening corruption probe.
Sharon has said repeatedly in recent weeks that he plans to take unilateral steps in the West Bank and Gaza -- dismantling some settlements, redeploying troops and imposing a boundary -- if there is no progress on the stalled road map.
However, the Gaza plan was the most detailed indication yet of Sharon's idea for unilateral action if peace talks with the Palestinians remain frozen. Sharon's closest ally, Vice Premier Ehud Olmert, said today that the prime minister is serious and that implementation could begin by the summer.
Popular support
Olmert said Sharon believes he will have broad popular support for a unilateral pullback. "Sharon is not willing to continue with the status quo forever, when this status quo exacts a heavy price from us, a price we are unwilling to pay," Olmert told Israel Radio.
The Yediot Ahronot daily published a poll today showing 59 percent of the Israeli public supports the Gaza proposal, with 34 percent against. The Dahaf agency interviewed 500 people for the poll, which gave no margin of error.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat dismissed Sharon's announcement.
"If Mr. Sharon intends to pull out of Gaza and settlements in Gaza, no Palestinian will stand in his way," Erekat said. "So far, all the talk about evacuating settlements from this Israeli government was linked to Sharon going to Washington."
Skeptical Israelis
Many Israelis were also skeptical. Throughout his political career, Sharon has been the most powerful patron of the Jewish settlement movement.
"Sharon has shown great talent for political statements but not for action," said Peace Now, an Israeli group that advocates evacuating settlements.
Sharon faces questioning Thursday in the investigation of a close associate who was indicted on charges of bribing the prime minister to advance a business deal. If Sharon is indicted, he would have to step down, at least temporarily.