07 February 2004	Saturday	15 Zilhaj 1424

TEL AVIV, Feb 6: The Israeli government is considering a proposal to move to the West Bank Jewish settlers who would leave the Gaza Strip under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new plan to evacuate Gaza settlements, an official said on Friday.

"It is one of the options being considered," an official in Mr Sharon's office said. Other officials have said the government is also considering moving Gaza settlers back into Israel and paying them compensation.

The Haaretz newspaper reported that in a visit to Washington expected later this month or early next month, Mr Sharon would seek US approval to expand West Bank settlement blocs that Israel might annex in a future peace deal with the Palestinians.

It said the prime minister - a longtime champion of settlement building on occupied land - would justify the request by explaining that West Bank enclaves would have to be expanded to accommodate some of the 7,500 Gaza settlers.

Mr Sharon has proposed removing 17 of the 21 Gaza settlements and has said several would also have to go in the West Bank if he carries out his threat to separate from the Palestinians and draw a "security line" should the roadmap fail.

Palestinian minister Saeb Erekat condemned any move to relocate Gaza settlers to the West Bank, demanding the removal of all settlements from the occupied territories.

Mr Sharon has made clear that any unilateral Israeli move would leave the Palestinians with less land than they are seeking for a state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

"Settlements in the West Bank are an obstacle to peace as much as the ones in Gaza Strip. They all must go," Erekat said. "The mere suggestion of trade-off between settlements in Gaza and the West Bank should be rejected by the Americans."

PUBLIC SUPPORT: Mr Sharon's popularity ratings have ticked upwards since he announced his Gaza evacuation plan.

A poll in the mass circulation Maariv daily showed that 39 percent of those surveyed after Mr Sharon unveiled the proposal on Monday were satisfied with his performance as prime minister compared with a record low of 33 percent last week. But with the powerful settlement movement already publishing advertisements in Israeli newspapers protesting against the proposal, Mr Sharon's advisers put out the word that evacuation in Gaza could ultimately pour more settlers into the West Bank.

The Maariv poll appeared a day after police investigating the bribery case questioned Mr Sharon for two and a half hours.

Sources close to the inquiry said the Israeli leader told the investigators he was unaware of his son Gilad's deals with a businessman friend charged with trying to bribe Mr Sharon when he was foreign minister in the 1990s.

"The police investigation will wind up soon and the attorney general will make a final decision on the case in two months," a source close to the inquiry told Reuters.

Analysts say Mr Sharon, who denies wrongdoing, would likely be forced from office if indicted. Critics have suggested Mr Sharon's Gaza plan was meant to divert attention from the scandal.

Sharon has denied any self-serving motive in dropping his political bombshell. The Maariv survey found 52 percent of the Israeli public supported unilateral evacuation of all of Israel's 21 Gaza settlements, with 36 percent opposed.

The Palestinian Authority, which said it would welcome any settlement evacuation as a first step towards a complete Israeli pullout from occupied territory, announced it was forming a security committee to coordinate any Gaza pullout with Israel. -Reuters