Likud backs poll on Gaza pull-out

Sharon wants to silence mounting criticism of the plan within his party

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has said he would honour the outcome of a Likud party referendum on a planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.

The proposal to hold a referendum was approved at a convention of 7,000 Likud central committee members in Tel Aviv.

The ballot of party members will take place in May, officials said.

The disengagement plan, which involves a pull-out from most Gaza settlements and some parts of the West Bank, has met fierce resistance within Israel.

Mr Sharon took to the stage on Tuesday evening, amid applause as well as boos and jeers. The BBC's James Reynolds, at the meeting, said it was a typically combative and lively Likud conference.

"The referendum will obligate all leaders of the Likud, and me among them," Mr Sharon told the crowd, in a 20-minute speech.

He won the vote in a show of hands.

Israeli press reacts Israel's show of strength

Mr Sharon will discuss his Gaza pull-out plan at talks with the US president next month.

But two hardline ministers in his cabinet have urged the prime minister to postpone the visit until the attorney-general makes a decision about whether he should face trial over his alleged involvement in two corruption scandals.

"For the prime minister's honour, he shouldn't go to the United States in a situation where his political future is uncertain," said Housing Minister Effi Eitam.

Mr Eitam and Tourism Minister Benny Elon both represent smaller parties which have threatened to pull out of the coalition government if the disengagement plan goes ahead.

Discussion of the plan is going ahead amid fears of retaliation by the Islamic militant group Hamas for the death of its spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, last week.

Sheikh Yassin was killed in an Israeli air strike as he returned from a mosque in Gaza City on 21 March.

'Back-and-forth process'

As Israel continues to be on high alert, officials from the US, UN, EU and Russia - the so-called Middle East peace quartet - have been holding regular talks in Brussels.

Assistant Secretary of State William Burns and other US officials stopped in the Belgian capital en route to Israel and two Arab capitals.

The US has so far refused to approve the Israeli disengagement plan but is involved in what the State Department describes as a "back-and-forth process" on the issue, which will culminate in Mr Sharon's Washington visit on 14 April.

Correspondents say Mr Sharon is trying to silence mounting criticism of the plan within the party and give it legitimacy.

At the same time, he appears to be using Israel's policy of strikes against leaders of Hamas and other militant groups to avoid creating an impression of Israeli weakness in the event of a withdrawal.