MIDDLE EAST: Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon told his cabinet yesterday that he would present them with a revised version of his Gaza withdrawal plan within three weeks.
But Mr Sharon immediately encountered opposition, including from his main party rival, Finance Minister Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, who said three weeks was insufficient time to draft a new plan. Mr Sharon also said he was cancelling a planned visit next week to the US, during which he was expected to meet President Bush who strongly endorsed the prime minister's "disengagement" plan, which included the evacuation of 21 settlements in the Gaza Strip.
The plan was defeated a week ago in a referendum in the ruling Likud party. "A diplomatic plan is not a pair of socks that one changes every day," said Mr Netanyahu, who reluctantly backed Mr Sharon's plan but refused to campaign for a withdrawal among Likud members. If Mr Sharon doesn't present a new initiative, the centrist Shinui party, which backed the disengagement plan, said it would consider leaving the government.
In Gaza, the Israeli army said it killed two Palestinian gunmen yesterday who fired on a group of settlers.
