Bush to tell Sharon no on settlement expansion

President Bush said today he would tell Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon privately what he has been saying publicly: there can be no expansion of Jewish settlements under the US-backed Middle East peace plan.

"You bet," Bush said when asked if he would raise the issue on Monday when he meets Sharon at his Texas ranch.

"What I say publicly, I say privately," Bush told reporters aboard Air Force One as he returned from Pope John Paul II's funeral. "And that is the road map has clear obligations on settlements, and that we expect the prime minister to adhere to those road map obligations."

Israeli officials have sought to reassure Washington about plans to build 3,500 homes between the major West Bank settlement of Maale Adumim and Jerusalem. The proposal has angered Palestinian leaders who warn it could derail peace talks.

While senior US officials have expressed concerns about the Maale Adumim project, Bush stopped short of criticizing it directly and praised Sharon.

"The prime minister of Israel has decided to pull out of Gaza," he said. "I applauded that decision at the White House, with him standing by my side. And I think now is the time to focus the world's attention on what is possible."

Bush pointed out the Palestinians also had obligations under the peace road map and urged all sides to cooperate, saying, "We have a great opportunity - 'we,' the world, has a great opportunity to help a democracy grow, begin and grow, starting in the Gaza."

"I will be talking to the prime minister about the need to work with the Palestinian government ... to facilitate success, to enhance success," he said.

PRESSING FOR SACRIFICES

The settlement issue threatened to be the only sticking point in talks between Bush and Sharon at the president's ranch in Crawford.

"My position is clear," said Bush, who has pledged to press Israel to make sacrifices to bolster peace talks after the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Palestinians fear the Maale Adumim project will cut them off from the eastern part of the holy city they want as the capital of a future state.

Sharon believes an extension of Israel's biggest settlement, home to 30,000 people, is in line with Bush's assurance to him last year the Jewish state could expect to keep some large settlement blocs under a final peace accord.

Bush, who has made Middle East peace a top second-term priority, has endorsed Sharon's plan to evacuate all 21 Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and four of 120 in the West Bank, a pullout now scheduled to begin on July 20.

Sharon's trip to Bush's ranch will be his first after numerous visits to the White House in recent years. The change in venue was seen as an attempt by the White House to bolster a close ally who is under fire from settlers at home over the Gaza pullout plan.

Bush uses meetings at his 648-hectare Prairie Chapel ranch to reward important allies and reach out to others.

Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin and Mexican President Vicente Fox were there last month. Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah is expected to visit later this month.

New Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate who declared a cease-fire with Sharon in February, is expected to meet with Bush perhaps next month, although no date has been announced

- REUTERS