OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 7 May 2003 — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday he would meet his Palestinian counterpart and linked a peace accord to the Palestinians giving up a demand that refugees be allowed to return to the Jewish state.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen, took office last week as part of US-led efforts to loosen Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s grip on power.
With Washington’s blessing, Sharon has shunned Arafat, accusing him of fomenting violence in a 31-month-old Palestinian uprising. Arafat denies the charge.
“I would be happy to meet with Abu Mazen,” Sharon told Israel Radio in an Independence Day interview. “The meeting is now being organized and it will take place.” On Monday, Israeli political sources said Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz planned to meet Abbas next week after a regional visit by US Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Powell is expected to arrive in Israel on Saturday to push forward a road map to peace, backed by the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.
The road map envisages a Palestinian state by 2005 and calls for a halt to Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank and Gaza, territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East War.
Sharon told Israel Radio that Israel would not recognize a Palestinian state unless Palestinians give up a demand that refugees be allowed to return to the Jewish state.
“This is something that Israel insists on and sees as a condition for continuing the process,” said Sharon.
Palestinians have said that such a demand would be a non-starter.
Sharon’s demand is likely to be raised with Powell during his visit. Later this month, Sharon will head to Washington to meet US President George W. Bush, government sources said.
In the interview, Sharon repeated his willingness to make “painful concessions,” if convinced they would lead to peace.
