Palestinians Dispute Pullback Claim

SAMAR ASSAD Associated Press Writer

JERUSALEM (AP) - A key Cabinet minister's claim that Israel has agreed to hand over 13 percent
of the West Bank is a ruse aimed at deflecting U.S. pressure, a Palestinian negotiator said
Wednesday.

Ariel Sharon, a hawk in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Cabinet, said Tuesday the Israeli
government has quietly accepted a U.S. proposal to withdraw from 13 percent of the West Bank.

Sharon opposes the U.S. plan, saying it would endanger Israel's security. It is believed Sharon made
the claim to embarrass Netanyahu and invite new pressure from Cabinet hard-liners.

Palestinian negotiator Nabil Shaath disputed Sharon's assertion. He said that while Israel has offered
to withdraw from 13 percent of the West Bank, the offer is conditional on 3 percent of the territory
being declared a ``nature reserve,'' whose land use Palestinians would be virtually powerless to
influence.

``So what Mr. Sharon is saying is nothing but an act of deception,'' Shaath said, noting that the
Palestinians already rejected the nature reserve idea when it was first raised last month.

The Palestinians have accepted the U.S. proposal, which calls for all 13 percent of the territory to
come under Palestinian control.

Sharon accused the Palestinians Tuesday of creating new obstacles - such as claims that Israel was
not allocating enough water to the West Bank - in order to invite U.S. pressure and squeeze more
concessions from Israel.

Shaath countered that Sharon was merely trying to shift blame from Israel to the Palestinians for the
prolonged deadlock in the negotiations.

In other developments Wednesday, Israeli troops demolished a Palestinian home near the West
Bank town of Hebron because it was built without a permit. The six-member family living in the
home scuffled with soldiers and two women were taken to a nearby hospital with bruises.

``This is terrorism, and I say it in front of everyone that I will be the next (suicide) bomber in Israel
because I have nothing to lose,'' said the homeowner, Atta Jaber, 33.

Since the start of the year, Israel has demolished 112 homes in the West Bank and 14 in Arab
neighborhoods in east Jerusalem. Israel says it is merely enforcing building regulations. The
Palestinians claim Israel is trying to limit Palestinian population growth in disputed areas where it
wants to cement its control.

The United States has called on Israel to refrain from demolishing homes and expanding Jewish
settlements in the West Bank.

Palestinian police, meanwhile, arrested a leader of the militant Islamic Jihad group, his family said
Wednesday. They said Abdullah Shami, head of Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip, was taken into
custody at midnight Tuesday. No confirmation of the arrest or other details were immediately
available from Palestinian authorities.