Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he was determined to carry out his plan to "disengage" from the Palestinians despite a corruption probe and threats by his coalition partners to quit the government.
On Monday, Sharon said he would put his proposal to withdraw from all or most of the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank to a Cabinet vote next month, after he returns from talks in Washington.
And if his current center-right government doesn't approve the disengagement plan, Sharon said, he will set up a new, moderate government instead.
The tough talk came a day after Israel's state attorney recommended indicting Sharon for accepting bribes, a move that could force his resignation.
Sharon told a closed meeting of parliament's Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday that he plans to seek Cabinet and parliamentary approval for the plan after returning from a US trip next month, spokesman Assaf Shariv said. Sharon is scheduled to meet US President George W. Bush on April 14.
During the meeting, Sharon also warned hardline critics that he could form a new coalition -- apparently with the dovish Labor Party -- if his plan is rejected, participants said. Two of Sharon's three coalition partners are hardline pro-settlement parties opposed to giving up control of any territory.
"If the parties leave the coalition, on the same day I will form a new government," Shariv quoted Sharon as saying.
The Maariv daily yesterday reported that Sharon and Labor had already drawn up an agreement to form a new government after Sharon's return from Washington, but that the agreement had been put on hold on the state attorney's recommendation.
However, Labor lawmaker Yitzhak Herzog told Israel Radio that the reported agreement -- which even included a division of Cabinet posts -- was a "smoke screen," apparently designed to ease pressure on Sharon.
Later yesterday, Sharon was to address a convention of his Likud Party. Although party activists have voiced harsh opposition to territorial concessions, it appeared Sharon's legal troubles would rally the party around him in a show of unity.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
At a calligraphy class in Hanoi, Hoang Thi Thanh Huyen slides her brush across the page to form the letters and tonal marks of Vietnam’s unique modern script, in part a legacy of French colonial rule. The history of romanized Vietnamese, or Quoc Ngu, links the arrival of the first Christian missionaries, colonization by the French and the rise to power of the Communist Party of Vietnam. It is now reflected in the country’s “bamboo diplomacy” approach of seeking strength through flexibility, or looking to stay on good terms with the world’s major powers. A month after Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) visited,
RSS