dall'Haaretz http://www.haaretz.com
Last Update: 15/07/2003 09:23 PM to Blair: Security fence construction to go on By Aluf Benn and Sharon Sadeh, Haaretz Correspondents, and Agencies http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/317805.html Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, visiting 10 Downing Street on Monday night, told Prime Minister Tony Blair that constuction of the West Bank security fence will continue, despite international opposition.
"The security fence is neither a political nor a military border, rather an obstacle to infiltration," Sharon told Blair.
Sharon declared that continuing pressure must be applied on Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and his security chief Mohammed Dahlan, to convince them to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure within Palestinian Authority-controlled areas.
"If this does not happen, there will be great danger to Israel, and a much greater danger to the existence of the Palestinian Authority," Sharon told his British counterpart. Sharon also asked that Britain issue a public statement calling for delegitimization of Hamas, the Islamic Jihad, and other militant groups.
A senior Israeli official said "There must be recognition that these groups cannot exist, if the Palestinians intend to move forward." He said that the PA had taken certain, unspecified steps, but that they fell far short of the Authoity's pledge of a war on terror.
European and other governments have voiced serious reservations over the fence project, which Palestinians argue has provided Israel a pretext to confiscate Arab-owned land and include large numbers of settlers in what could constitute a future border between Israel and an independent Palestine.
"We still have our differences with Britain on a series of issues, including Arafat," a senior Israeli official said after Blair hosted a private dinner for Sharon, who is on a three-day visit to London.
But the official described the event as "an intimate meeting between friends." A Downing Street spokesman called the talks "warm and constructive" and said both leaders restated their commitment to the road map.
Sharon assured Blair that Israel would free Palestinian prisoners "without blood on their hands."
However, Sharon declared, continuing pressure must be applied on Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and his security chief Mohammed Dahlan, to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure within Palestinian Authority-controlled areas.
Sharon, calling Yasser Arafat the "main obstacle" to a revived Middle East peace process, failed to persuade Blair to cut Britain's ties with the Palestinian leader.
There was no immediate word whether Blair had pressed Sharon to step up the pace of confidence-building measures mandated by the peace plan, such as the dismantling of illegal settler outposts in the West Bank.
"Sharon told Blair that it is now clear to everyone that Arafat is the main obstacle to progress in the (Israeli-Palestinian peace) process," the official said.
"Arafat sabotages every opportunity to move forward and any initiative or activity by (Abbas)... he is undermining him."
Palestinians argue that it is Sharon who is holding up peacemaking progress by rejecting their calls for the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, who now number some 6,500.
Israel has said some 350 will go free and they would not include prisoners with "blood on their hands" or members of militant groups, such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
But a senior Israeli signalled the tough terms might be loosened after a meeting between Sharon and Abbas next week to discuss ways to bolster the peace plan that charts reciprocal steps leading to the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
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