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Nation & world briefing Hardliners force Sharon to dissolve parliament Michael Matza and Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) JERUSALEM—Israeli Prime Minis ter Ariel Sharon dissolved his nation’s parliament on Tuesday, forcing elec tions as early as February and plunging the close U.S. ally into political uncer tainty as the Bush administration pre pares for war in nearby Iraq. It was unclear how or whether the dissolution would affect President Bush’s effort to restrain the Israeli government from taking harsh mili tary steps against the Palestinians that might preclude Arab coopera tion in a possible war. Sharon failed to form a governing coalition with ultra right-wing par ties that demanded a hardline stance against the Palestinians. Without their support, he could not form a Cabinet that would win parliamen tary approval. Dissolution of the parliament throws into motion a range of political forces that make any prediction of the election’s outcome — and the result ing impact on approaches to peace in the region—difficult at best. Right-wing parties took an uncom promising stance with Sharon in part because they believe they stand to gain in an election. Sharon initially tried to avoid early elections because, while personally popular, he faces a strong right-wing challenge within his own Likud party. Meanwhile, the forces calling lor peace initiatives with the Palestinians may stand to gain within the left-leaning Labor Party. Several Israeli political analysts said early elections are likely to favor Likud, costing Labor and other liber al factions a handful of Knesset seats. The reason, they said: Average Is raelis have shifted right as a result of Palestinian violence. Sharon was forced to seek new coalition partners following the Oct. 30 departure from his government of the Labor Party when Labor balked over funding for Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, ter ritories included in proposals for a Palestinian state. Labor Party leader Binyamin Ben Eliezer pulled his faction out of the “uni ty” gpvemment — unity between left and right-wing parties — that Sharon had been leading for 20 months. The ultra-rightists had said they would join Sharon’s government only if he stiffened his demands on Pales tinians and rejected a U.S. sponsored “road map” for peace that sets a timetable for negotiations and in cludes an eventual Palestinian state. “Elections are the last thing this country needs right now,” Sharon said. But “I will not throw away the good of the country for narrow-based party political considerations.” © 2002, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. U.S. compromises on Iraq Warren P. Strobel and Diego Ibarguen Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) WASHINGTON — The Bush ad ministration won agreement from France and other key doubters Tues day on a new United Nations resolu tion demanding that Iraq scrap its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs, a deal clinched in a series of high-level phone calls by Secretary of State Colin Powell. Approval of the resolution appears likely to delay* perhaps for several months, any U.S.-led military action to overthrow Iraqi leader Saddam Hus sein, as the world waits to see whether Baghdad will comply with the world body’s disarmament demands. While officials cautioned that last minute glitches are possible, the deal appears to end, at least for now, the disagreements with other world pow ers and within the U.S. government over how to deal with Saddam. The United States plans to present the resolution Wednesday at the United Nations, and senior U.S. offi cials predicted that after weeks of wrangling, it would win backing from all of the 15-member U.N. Security Council except for Syria. The American position was final ized Monday afternoon at a pivotal White House “principals’ meeting” that was attended by Powell, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Vice President Dick Cheney, National Se curity Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Gen. Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Powell’s view that the United States should continue to work diplomatical ly and come up with a plan its allies could accept prevailed at the meeting, several officials said. All of them spoke on the condition of anonymity. Cheney and Rumsfeld asked for a few minor wording changes but abandoned their months-long effort to press for a U.N. resolution that Saddam was unlikely to accept and that would authorize military action without further debate. © 2002, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. Robinson Theatre UQ Ticket Office-346-4363 Nouember 8- 25Hult Center- 687-5000 Interested in Law School? Attend the: Portland Law School Fair November 12, 2002, from 10am-2pm-free admission PSU Ballroom 3rd Floor SMC (1825 SW Broadway, Portland) Questions? Call: 503-725-3917 or visit http://www.prelawsocietv.pdx.edu/ Raw Talent The Oregon Daily Emerald is always looking for young writers who want to learn and grow at a real newspaper. For information on how to freelance for the Oregon Daily Emerald, call 346-5511. Loosen up! JOE BOXER Now at Kmart The stuff of life ®2002 Kmaftorporation ©2002 JOE BOXER CO., L
