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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, April 16, 2002

U.S. President Welcomes Israeli Withdrawal Pledge

U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's pledge to withdraw Israeli forces from the Palestinian towns of Jenin and Nablus within a week, the White House said.


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U.S. President George W. Bush on Monday welcomed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's pledge to withdraw Israeli forces from the Palestinian towns of Jenin and Nablus within a week, the White House said.

Bush praised Sharon's pledge as "a positive development" during a 15-minute telephone discussion between the two leaders earlier in the day, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporter.

"The prime minister confirmed to the president that Israel will withdraw from Jenin and Nablus within a week, that Jenin will be sooner," said Fleischer, who is accompanying Bush on a one-day trip to Iowa.

"The president expressed his belief that this will increase the prospects to bring peace to the region," Fleischer said. "The president urged the prime minister to consider the human dimensions and to improve human conditions throughout the West Bank."

They also discussed the ongoing importance of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's mission in the Middle East, including his efforts to defuse the standoff at Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, Fleischer said.

Sharon said Monday night in an exclusive interview with CNN that the Israeli troops would withdraw from the Palestinian areas in the West Bank only after the military operations are completed.

He also said the troops are expected to pull out within a week from most of the Palestinian areas, where Israeli troops are believed to have achieved the goal of their operations, but would remain outside of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.


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