AFP -- Sharon backtracks on term "occupation"...

[theapportioner]

Sharon backtracks on term "occupation" in face of internal rebellion

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon went into damage-control mode after stunning the country and his own party by using the term "occupation" to refer to Israeli presence in the Palestinian territories.

"People did not understand me," a parliamentary source quoted Sharon as saying during a meeting of the committee on defence and foreign affairs.

"Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein called me yesterday and confirmed that the official word used for the territories is 'disputed.'"

Sharon had caused a stir among his own ranks on Monday when he criticised the negative impact on Israel of the military occupation of the Palestinian territories, and already appeared to be regretting his comments.

"I think that the idea of keeping 3.5 million Palestinians under occupation is the worst thing for Israel, for the Palestinians and also for the Israeli economy," he told his fellow Likud MPs on Monday.

"You may not like the word, but what's happening is occupation," he insisted.

Israel's "control over the Palestinians cannot continue without end. Do you want to stay forever in Jenin, Nablus, Ramallah and Bethlehem? That is not right," he said.

Sharon was responding to a barrage of sharp criticism from right-wing Likud members after the cabinet's approval Sunday of the Mideast roadmap for peace, which foresees the creation of a Palestinian state by the end of 2005.

The comments, the softest statements ever known to have been pronounced by the premier, had threatened to further alienate the right-wing parties in his government coalition and the hardliners in his own party.

Shaul Yahalom, a member of the pro-settler National Religious Party, said Tuesday that he was relieved.

"I was in shock yesterday; I feel a bit better today," the sources quoted him as saying.

During the committee meeting, Sharon clarified a number of the reservations he submitted to the United States on the roadmap.

"It would take a miracle for the Palestinians to fulfill the demands listed by Sharon," rejoiced Yahalom, whose party voted against endorsing the peace blueprint on Sunday.