Sharon apologises for remarks

WASHINGTON, OCT. 7. The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Ariel Sharon, has apologised for recent remarks, in which he accused the United States and other Western powers of trying to appease Arab nations, saying he was misunderstood. ``Unfortunately, the metaphor in my words was not understood correctly, and I'm sorry about that,'' Mr. Sharon said in a brief telephone interview with The New York Times published today.

On Thursday, Mr. Sharon called on Western democracies, in particular the U.S., not to repeat the terrible mistake made in 1938, when European democracies sacrificed Czechoslovakia for a temporary solution to their problems with Germany.

The White House said the President, Mr. George W. Bush, had found the remarks ``unacceptable.''

In the interview, Mr. Sharon expressed regret five times in less than five minutes, according to the daily. He said he had spoken with the Secretary of State, Gen. Colin Powell, three times on Friday and once on Saturday. ``It's behind us,'' he said of the dispute over his comments. ``It's completely behind us.''

Mr. Sharon said the U.S. had not unfairly put pressure on Israel to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians, but he suggested that he had been concerned that such pressure was coming, the paper reported. ``Now, we have not been under pressure,'' he said. ``What worried me was what might be.'' He promised ``full support'' for Mr. Bush's goal of ``eradicating terror.''

Meanwhile, the Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr. Shimon Peres, has said he is convinced that a Palestinian state will be created thanks to a ``historic compromise'' between the two sides. In an interview published in the weekly Bild Am Sonntag today, Mr. Peres said: ``We must arrive at a historic compromise with the Palestinians. A Palestinian state will be created''.

While recognising Mr. Yasser Arafat as the uncontested leader of the Palestinian people, Mr. Peres exhorted him to put an end to the continuing violence. ``If Mr. Arafat fails to rein in the extremists then there will be more attacks, an escalation of the violence and war,'' he warned.

The dovish Mr. Peres said Israel had handed over to the Palestinian Authority a list of 108 of the most dangerous terrorists. ``We have demanded that at least the 10 worst offenders should be arrested. Arafat has not done so''.

In an apparent effort to cement Arab support for a U.S.-led global war on terrorism, Mr. Bush had said that a Palestinian state had ``always'' been part of a U.S. vision for West Asia peace.

``The idea of a Palestinian state has always been part of a vision, so long as the right to Israel to exist is respected,'' he told reporters in the White House Oval Office.

Mr. Bush's comments quickly found an echo in Britain, where the Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, said Palestinians should have the chance to live ``in their own land'', while the state of Israel should be accepted ``as part of the future of the Middle East.''

- AFP

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Section  : International
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