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Sharon pledges settlement growth
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has pledged to go ahead with the expansion of a Jewish settlement near Jerusalem fiercely opposed by Palestinians.
He said 3,500 homes would be built to link to form a corridor between the city and the largest West Bank settlement, Maale Adumim.
The US secretary of state has warned the plan is "at odds with US policy".
But Israelis hope George W Bush will confirm they can keep the settlement when he meets Mr Sharon next week.
"We know he will keep his word," said Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, speaking of the US president's pledge last year that Israel could retain large settlements under a final peace accord.
The Palestinians are strongly opposed to the plan, which they say will split eastern Jerusalem in two, effectively preventing it from becoming the capital of their future state.
US criticism
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said last month she thought the move might have a negative impact on the peace process, adding that settlement expansion should come to a "full stop".
On Monday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan appeared to confirm this stance.
"We oppose the expansion of any settlement activity," he said.
"That has been our view and that remains our view."
He added that settlement activity was on the agenda for next week's talks between the US president and Mr Sharon in Texas, which will focus on the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian fears
But Mr Sharon seemed confident he would be able to carry out his plan.
"I don't see construction in the E-1 area as a serious problem," Reuters news agency quoted Mr Sharon as saying on Monday, in a reference to the strip that should eventually connect the Maale Adumim settlement to Jerusalem.
Palestinians fear that the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, an impoverished area with relatively few Israeli settlers, will lead to Israel gaining more control over the West Bank and Jerusalem.
The international community considers all settlements in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4410853.stm
The US secretary of state has warned the plan is "at odds with US policy".
But Israelis hope George W Bush will confirm they can keep the settlement when he meets Mr Sharon next week.
"We know he will keep his word," said Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, speaking of the US president's pledge last year that Israel could retain large settlements under a final peace accord.
The Palestinians are strongly opposed to the plan, which they say will split eastern Jerusalem in two, effectively preventing it from becoming the capital of their future state.
US criticism
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said last month she thought the move might have a negative impact on the peace process, adding that settlement expansion should come to a "full stop".
On Monday, White House spokesman Scott McClellan appeared to confirm this stance.
"We oppose the expansion of any settlement activity," he said.
"That has been our view and that remains our view."
He added that settlement activity was on the agenda for next week's talks between the US president and Mr Sharon in Texas, which will focus on the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian fears
But Mr Sharon seemed confident he would be able to carry out his plan.
"I don't see construction in the E-1 area as a serious problem," Reuters news agency quoted Mr Sharon as saying on Monday, in a reference to the strip that should eventually connect the Maale Adumim settlement to Jerusalem.
Palestinians fear that the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, an impoverished area with relatively few Israeli settlers, will lead to Israel gaining more control over the West Bank and Jerusalem.
The international community considers all settlements in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as illegal under international law, though Israel disputes this.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4410853.stm
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The White House on Monday also said US President George Bush would raise the issue during next week's scheduled meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
"We oppose the expansion of any settlement activity. That has been our view and that remains our view," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said when asked about settlement expansion plans in the West Bank.
"Settlement activity will be a subject that comes up," when Bush and Sharon meet next Monday at the US president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, McClellan said.
McClellan's comments, however, fell short of the position expressed last month by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Rice response
In response to news of Israeli plans to build the homes between Maale Adumim and Arab East Jerusalem, Rice said settlement expansion should come to a "full stop," because it could threaten progress toward peace.
A senior Bush administration official said Washington's stance had not softened since Rice's statement. The official called the White House's message "direct, clear and unequivocal."
Another official said the Bush administration was putting pressure on Israel largely behind the scenes before the Bush-Sharon meeting.
Rice and Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, were expected to raise the issue later on Monday in talks with Dov Weissglass, a top Sharon adviser.
Sharon's scheme
Sharon believes an extension of Israel's biggest colony, home to 30,000 people, is in line with Bush's assurance to him last year that Israel could expect to keep some large settlement blocs under a final peace accord.
"A strip between Jerusalem and Maale Adumim will certainly be built. At what time, under what circumstances, at which phase during negotiations ... I honestly don't know," said Israeli Vice-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Palestinians say the latest project on land Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war would cut them off from East Jerusalem, which they want as the capital of their future state.
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2BBDECEB-FFB9-4B28-85FB-18E287D73E90.htm
In reality the Jewish towns, villages and cities in the disputed territories are legal in the most fundamental senses of int'l law, though the int'l community has always disputed their legality.
>>>"US opposes Israeli settlement plan"<<<
This headline is misleading considering that GW Bush doesn't unequivocally oppose the expansion of Ma'ale Adumin.
Additionally, branding a city totaling 30,000 that's been up for years now as a "settlement" and a "colony" (that wasn't built on Arab owned land) is idiotic.