Sharon mulling request to delay Gaza pullout: report
18/4/2005 17:33
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is mulling a request by the head of
the Disengagement Administration to postpone the Gaza pullout by three weeks,
local Ha'aretz daily reported Monday.
Yonaton Bassi suggested the delay
during the weekly cabinet session on Sunday, said the report.
Bassi proposed
the pullout, originally scheduled to start on July 20, be delayed until after
the traditional mourning over the destruction of two ancient Jewish temples in
Jerusalem which ends on the ninth of the Hebrew month of Av, Aug. 14.
If
Bassi's proposal is accepted, the disengagement will begin on Aug. 15.
Jewish
rabbis also urged the postponement, citing Orthodox tradition.
Sharon has
previously turned down military and governmental requests to delay the
disengagement for logistical and planning reasons, fearing any postponement
might give ultranationalists more time to block the pullout.
The pullout
plan, also known as the disengagement plan, was put forward by Sharon at the end
of 2003, aiming at removing all Gaza settlements and four of about 120 in the
West Bank.
Xinhua News
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