US agrees with Israel on West Bank settlement growth: Rice
AFP
Date: 03-27-05
JERUSALEM (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) has denied any disagreement with Israel over Jewish settlements, reiterating that any final negotiations will have to take major population centres into account.
In an interview with Israeli public radio broadcast Sunday, she also stressed the United States was committed to the internationally drafted roadmap peace plan, which calls for the freezing of all settlement activity.
"The American view is that while we will not prejudice the outcome of the final status negotiations... the existing major Israeli population centres will have to be taken into account in any final negotiation," she told the radio.
"No one should say that there is no agreement between our two governments. There is. I hope I've been able to make it clear," she added.
"American policy remains unchanged in accordance with the roadmap, but I just wanted to make certain that everyone understood what the April 14th agreement is," Rice said.
In an April 14 letter to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites), US President George W. Bush (news - web sites) said the final borders of a promised Palestinian state must take into account demographic realities on the ground.
After talks between the two leaders on the same day, Bush said Palestinian refugees should not be allowed to return to lands lost to Israel in 1948-9 and that Israel should be able to keep some Arab land captured in the 1967 war.
Rice's comments were likely to further fuel the debate over the US position on the West Bank settlements, regarded as illegal by the wider international community.
On Friday, US ambassador Dan Kurtzer also said Israel would be able to retain sovereignty over large Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank, contradicting reports that there had been a misunderstanding with Washington on the issue.
Last week, Israel announced it would push ahead with the expansion of the largest West Bank settlement -- Maaleh Adumim, east of Jerusalem -- through the construction of more than 3,500 new homes.
The apparent clear violation of the roadmap sparked an angry Palestinian response and expressions of concern from the international community, including roadmap co-sponsors the European Union (news - web sites) and Russia.
The peace blueprint, which was also sponsored by the United Nations (news - web sites), was launched in 2003 but has made next to no progress since.
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