Posted on 04/21/2002 7:01:53 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
| Sharon says "this stage" of Israeli offensive over | |
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JERUSALEM, April 21 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
declared an end to "this stage" of Israel's West Bank offensive
on Sunday after tanks rumbled out of two more Palestinian
cities.
The army said it had left Ramallah, apart from Palestinian
President Yasser Arafat's compound, and pulled out of Nablus.
But it kept up a siege of a Bethlehem church where gunmen are
holed up.
"We have finished this stage of the operation called
Defensive Shield," Sharon told reporters.
"We have achieved very profound results but the struggle
against terrorism continues. However this time, it will work
according to a different method."
He was apparently referring to Israeli buffer zones which he
wants to establish inside the West Bank to prevent Palestinian
suicide bombers from reaching Israel.
((Jerusalem newsroom, +972-25370502,
jerusalem.newsroom@reuters.com))
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