Bush warns Sharon against adding to settlements

CRAWFORD, Texas — President Bush told Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Monday he must not allow further West Bank settlement growth and said Israeli and Palestinian doubts about each other were hampering peace prospects.

In response, Sharon said that Israel would abide by the internationally negotiated "road map" peace plan, which calls for a settlement freeze, but would keep some large Jewish population blocs in the West Bank under its control.

At a joint news conference on Bush's ranch, both leaders sounded pessimistic about near-term prospects for peace.

Sharon said Israel would not move forward on the road map until Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas did more to disarm militant groups and brought about "a full cessation of terror, hostilities and incitement."

"We will continue with the negotiations only after Palestinians agree to stop the terror," Sharon said.

Bush cited "a lack of confidence in the region. I can understand that. There's been a lot of death. A lot of innocent people have lost their lives. And there's just not a lot of confidence on either side."

But if Israel's withdrawal from Gaza comes off successfully, then "I think we'll have a different frame of mind" more conducive to pursuing peace, Bush said. "To me, that's where the attention of the world ought to be, on Gaza."

Israel is to quit all 21 Gaza settlements and four more in the West Bank this summer. The operation will remove about 9,000 Israelis from their homes.

Israeli officials have become increasingly worried about violence in the West Bank.

Bush praised Sharon's "courageous initiative to disengage from Gaza and part of the West Bank" and urged Palestinian leaders to accept the prime minister's offer to coordinate the withdrawal.

At the same time, Bush said he had not budged in his opposition to settlement expansion.

"I've been very clear. Israel has an obligation under the road map. That's no expansion of settlements," Bush said.

In Ramallah on the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority urged Sharon to heed Bush's words.

"I believe this is the key to everything," Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "Failure to adhere to the president's call to stop all settlement activity literally means we will not be able to talk about the two-state solution, vision or no vision."