Palestinians urge Sharon to lend Bush an ear

‘‘I hope that Prime Minister Sharon will adhere to President Bush’s call to stop all settlement activities because I believe this is the key to everything,’’ top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said after Bush met Sharon in Texas.

Bush told Sharon he was concerned about West Bank settlement growth and urged him to stick to his obligations under the US-sponsored roadmap to a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.

At a joint news conference with Sharon after their talks at the President’s Texas ranch, Bush said: ‘‘I told the Prime Minister of my concern that Israel not undertake any activity that contravenes roadmap obligations or prejudices final status negotiations… Therefore, Israel should remove unauthorised outposts and meet its roadmap obligations regarding settlements in the West Bank’’.

Sharon has found himself at odds with Bush over his stated intention to link Israel’s biggest West Bank settlement to Jerusalem, a project still only on the drawing boards but which has outraged Palestinians who want the land for their state.

Erekat said the vision of a two-state solution would be jeopardised if Israel continued expanding settlements on occupied land and kept up construction of a barrier it is building in the West Bank.

Despite Bush’s caution against settlement expansion, he said, as widely expected, that he stood by his earlier assurance to Sharon that Israel should be able to keep some West Bank land where it has large concentrations of settlers.

An outbreak of violence in the Gaza Strip could provide the backdrop for Sharon to try to focus the summit on his bedrock demand, echoed by Washington, that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas disarm and dissolve militant groups.

‘‘They are pointing a gun to (Abbas’s) head,’’ a senior Israeli official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said about Palestinian militant groups that fired dozens of mortar bombs at Jewish settlements in Gaza over the weekend.

This followed the killing of three unarmed Palestinian youths by Israeli troops in disputed circumstances in southern Gaza. The violence was the most serious in the area since Abbas and Sharon declared a ceasefire at a February 8 summit. ‘‘The firing (of the mortars) was a flagrant violation of the understanding achieved at Sharm el-Sheikh and it will be a central issue to be raised in my talks with President Bush,’’ an aide quoted Sharon as saying on the flight to Texas on Sunday.

‘‘Abbas is weak. He needs assistance, but you can only help someone who helps himself,’’ said a senior Israeli official.