THE MIDDLE EAST Sharon to offer pullout plan

He wants the withdrawal to be complete by September 2005.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he will submit his Gaza withdrawal plan for parliamentary approval by early November, despite mounting opposition to his proposal to uproot thousands of Jewish settlers from their homes.
The comments were broadcast on Israel Army Radio early today, a day after Sharon drew a chorus of boos at a convention of his own Likud Party when he mentioned the "disengagement plan."
"In late October or early November, I intend to bring to the Knesset for approval the Cabinet's decision regarding the disengagement," Sharon said in the radio interview, which was recorded before the party convention.
In other developments today, a Palestinian militant was killed by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip, while three Palestinian civilians were moderately wounded in clashes with troops in the West Bank.
Withdrawal plan
Sharon wants to withdraw from the entire Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements by September 2005.
The November target for parliamentary approval is in line with Sharon's previous timeline. But a growing chorus of hard-line opposition has raised questions over whether Sharon can stick to the schedule.
The Likud is bitterly divided over the plan, and Sharon has been left with a minority coalition in parliament after the defections of several hard-line partners.
Sharon has relied on the opposition Labor Party to block attempts to bring down the government. A senior official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Sharon believes he has enough support to win parliamentary approval for his plan.
At Tuesday's Likud convention, Sharon's mere mention of the plan set off several minutes of boos and catcalls. Facing down the noisy protest, he pledged to stick to the timetable approved by his Cabinet last June.
Sharon himself was once the chief architect of Jewish settlements, but he now believes the continued occupation of Gaza -- where 8,500 settlers live amid 1.3 million Palestinians -- is unsustainable.
"With all due respect to the Likud, I am also prime minister and my responsibility is for the continued existence, development and strengthening of the people and state of Israel," Sharon told Israel Radio today.
After four years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, Sharon says the pullout will reduce friction with the Palestinians and head off international peace initiatives.
No peace talks
He refuses to negotiate with the Palestinian leadership, charging that Yasser Arafat's administration is involved in terrorism.
In today's radio interviews, Sharon said he has no intention of resuming peace talks with the Palestinians until they "change their behavior."
The Palestinians fear Sharon plans to use the withdrawal plan to consolidate Israeli control over large chunks of the West Bank.
They demand that Israel stick to the "road map," an internationally backed peace plan meant to bring about an independent Palestinian state in Gaza and the West Bank. The plan has been stalled for more than a year amid violations by Israel and the Palestinians.
"It's true that we aren't acting according to the road map," Sharon told Israel Radio. "If the Palestinians start to do what they are asked ... it will be possible to return to the road map."