WEST BANK, GAZA STRIP Sharon stands behind evacuation

The announcement to vacate settlements stunned the prime minister's allies.
ASHKELON, Israel (AP) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he was determined to remove some Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip and West Bank, even if it means forming a new government.
During a visit to the coastal city of Ashkelon today, Sharon avoided direct mention of his Gaza plans but said he was determined to press ahead with plans to remove some settlements.
"We have to take painful steps. I want to say that not only is this difficult for the settlers but also it is more painful for myself than anyone else in Israel," said Sharon, a patron of the Jewish settlement movement throughout his career.
"It pains me a lot. But I've reached a decision, and I am going to carry it out."
On Monday, Sharon told a columnist for the Haaretz daily newspaper that he wants to dismantle 17 Israeli communities in the Gaza Strip and several more in the West Bank. The newspaper quoted Sharon as saying he has "given an order to plan for the evacuation" of the settlements.
He also said that eventually there will be no Israelis left in Gaza.
Those remarks stunned Sharon's hard-line allies, and two ultra-nationalist parties said they would quit the governing coalition if he moved ahead.
Sharon was quoted today as saying he would try to form a new government in such a case, presumably by bringing in the opposition Labor Party.
Offers support
Labor leader Shimon Peres said he would support Sharon "as long as he continues on this road," but stopped short of saying his party would join the government.
Sharon told Haaretz that Israel would need one or two years to remove the 17 Gaza settlements and three "problematic" ones in the West Bank.
He said he would seek U.S. approval and possibly financial aid to relocate about 7,500 Gaza residents to Israel. Sharon acknowledged that Israel might have difficulty justifying a request for American aid, but said 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 stalled U.S.-backed "road map" peace plan, whose centerpiece is the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel by 2005.
U.S. comments
In Washington, U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said that, as far as he knew, the Israeli government had not informed the Bush administration of any plan to dismantle Gaza settlements. He urged Israel and the Palestinians to move forward on the peace plan.
Sharon's critics dismissed the prime minister's remarks as a public relations ploy, possibly meant to deflect attention from his involvement in a widening corruption probe.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said, "If Mr. Sharon intends to pull out of Gaza and settlements in Gaza, no Palestinian will stand in his way. So far, all the talk about evacuating settlements from this Israeli government was linked to Sharon going to Washington."
Trade deal
A Sharon aide, meanwhile, confirmed that as part of a final peace deal with the Palestinians, the prime minister has suggested a willingness to trade some Israeli-Arab population and land to the Palestinians in return for the land upon which Jewish settlers live in the West Bank.
However, any such move would have to be accepted by Israeli Arabs, the official said on condition of anonymity.
The idea threatened to arouse the deepest fears of Israel's Arab minority and was immediately criticized by an Israeli Arab leader. Many Israeli Arabs want to remain in Israel, both because of the higher standard of living and concerns that a future Palestinian state may not be democratic.