December 16, 2002	Monday	Shawwal 11, 1423

TEL AVIV, Dec 15: Israel’ Labour Party said on Sunday that it was ready to give up the Jewish state’s claim to Arab districts of occupied Al Quds, annexed after the eastern part of the city was seized by Israeli forces in the 1967 war.

“We want Jerusalem (Al Quds) to become a city where one can live a normal life and the annexed Arab neighbourhoods are not part of the city. This measure was taken to enlarge Jerusalem,” a spokesman for the party said.

“To manage to have the Jewish part recognised as the eternal capital of Israel by the whole world, in return for a renunciation of the Arab areas and as a way to peace, that would be the best news possible for the people of Israel,” he said.

Israel has built dozens of Jewish neighbourhoods in the disputed east of the city since taking it over in 1967.

But the annexation has never been recognized by the international community, with almost all states keeping their embassies in Tel Aviv.

Newly-elected Labour chief Amram Mitzna has already set his party apart from its Likud rivals by promising a swift Israeli withdrawal from controversial Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip, with a partial pullback from some West Bank settlements to follow.

VOTES FOR CASH: Likud, whose leadership by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was confirmed in last month’s primary elections, was shaken on Saturday by a votes-for-cash scandal stemming from the internal polls.

Three Likud aspirants charged they were asked for money in exchange for support from party central committee members who voted on a slate for the elections, and a criminal investigation has been opened.

Likud is still storming ahead in opinion polls for the Jan 28 vote, although recent surveys predict its lead in the 120-seat parliament has dipped from earlier predictions of 40 deputies to 33.

But it would still become the dominant force in the Knesset, since the centre-left Labour is only credited with 21 seats.—AFP