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Frist: Pullout Must Allow for Palestinian Statehood NewsMax.com WiresVisiting United States Senate Majority leader Bill Frist said Monday that Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip and part of the West Bank in the summer must allow for creation of a Palestinian state. Frist, a Republican from Tennessee, is on a fact-finding mission. Referring to Israel's planned withdrawal, he said the U.S. must help ensure it "does not prejudice the outcome of a two-state solution" to the conflict. Story Continues Below Before meeting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Frist backed the stand of U.S. President George W. Bush, opposing construction in settlements in the West Bank. "Our policy is no expansion of the settlements," he told The Associated Press in a brief interview at Sharon's office. He said that was in keeping with the internationally backed road map peace plan, which is to lead to a Palestinian state. Frist was to meet Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas later Monday. Aboard an Israel Air Force helicopter, Frist inspected the West Bank separation fence. Frist also spoke with Natan Sharansky, who resigned earlier in the day from the cabinet in protest over the planned pullout. Sharansky called on Frist and Congress to appropriate $150 million to the Palestinians for projects to help build up democratic institutions.
© 2005 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Editor's note: Read more on this subject in related Hot Topics: |
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