Sharon Not Give Consent to Peres' Peace Plan: Sharon's Office

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Sunday, December 23, 2001

Sharon Not Give Consent to Peres' Peace Plan: Sharon's Office

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Office said Sunday morning that Sharon had not given his consent to any peace plan presented by Foreign Minister Shimon Peres to the Palestinians, terming the report on Pere's plan as "fantasy and baseless."

According to Pere's plan reported by the Yediot Aharonot on Sunday, an independent Palestinian state will be created within an eight-week timeframe, in the Gaza Strip and in 42 percent of the West Bank.

Sharon's Office said in a statement that the report "is baselessand fictitious and raising it at all causes serious damage to Israel."

In response to the report, right-wing ministers called Sunday onSharon to immediately dismiss Peres from his post.

The following are major elements of Pere's peace plan:

1. The two sides will begin a full U.S.-sponsored ceasefire withthe immediate implementation of the Tenet and Mitchell plans, including taking harsh measures against the Palestinian perpetrators of "terror" and confiscating illegal weapons in the Palestinian-controlled areas by the Palestinian National Authority;lifting blockades and closures against Palestinian territories, freezing of settlement activity and ending assassination of Palestinian militants by Israel; and a transition to the formation of a single Palestinian armed entity. This stage will be implemented in six weeks.

2. Within eight weeks, Israel will recognize a Palestinian statein the West Bank and Gaza Strip on the basis of U.N. resolutions 242 and 338. Palestine will recognize the state of Israel on the basis of resolutions 242 and 338.

3. Final status negotiations between the Palestinian state and Israel will begin in the eighth week and will relate to all the issues on the table: a timetable for the phased withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory constituting the Palestinian state; the Palestinian refugees; the status of Jerusalem; the Jewish settlements; security; water; and relations with other states. These negotiations will not take longer than nine to 12 months. The agreement will be implemented within 18 to 24 months.

4. The two states will also negotiate a series of other issues: international involvement in the negotiations, a peace-keeping force, financial aid to the Palestinians, and mediation over disputed issues.

Israeli Army Radio quoted Palestinian sources as saying that they would only accept a peace plan based on an Israeli withdrawal to borders before the 1967 Middle East war and which included east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state.

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