Quartet drafts 'action plan' for Israeli withdrawal from Gaza

[Gimel]

WASHINGTON - The Middle East Quartet has prepared a draft "action plan" for the withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, including proposals on overhauling Palestinian security forces and providing financial backing.





The draft by the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, also foresees limiting the role of Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat, whom Washington wants to sideline.

The document, obtained by Reuters on Monday, says the Quartet partners may ask the UN Security Council to back the withdrawal plan, which won government approval on Sunday in a compromise that would require further cabinet votes before any settlements are removed.

Entitled "Gaza Disengagement: Action Plan," the document calls for giving the Palestinian Authority prime minister and the Cabinet - rather than Arafat - the "authority and structures" to direct and implement political and economic reforms in Gaza.


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