Israel's Sharon Fires Ministers, Shatters Coalition

[maddezmom]

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) sacked his main coalition partner on Wednesday after a humiliating parliamentary defeat that left him scrambling to avoid early elections and save his Gaza withdrawal plan.


In a twin political drama across the Middle East divide, jailed West Bank leader Marwan Barghouthi decided to run in a Palestinian presidential election and Hamas militants vowed to boycott the vote to choose a successor for Yasser Arafat (news - web sites).


Sharon dismissed the Shinui party shortly after it defied him by voting against the 2005 state budget in a first reading in parliament, and aides said he would immediately approach the center-left Labour Party to prevent his government's collapse.


The parliamentary mutiny marked the sharpest threat to Sharon's grip on power since he was re-elected in January 2003 in a crushing victory driven by popular support for his tough handling of a Palestinian uprising.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=721&e=1&u=/nm/20041201/wl_nm/mideast_dc

[whalerider55]

1. this should

make the repug fundies (Robertson, Falwell) pop a woody...

another step closer to the rapture...

as for me, Sharon has more blood on his hands than Bush. As far as I'm concerned, anarchy is a better option than him.

and being a person of the hebrew persuasion myself, I think he oughta go... and take his stooges Wolfowitz, Perle and Feith with him...

they aren't politicians, they are butchers.

grrrrr.

whalerider55

[DrWeird]

2. Hey, at least he's not a roadblock to peace.

:eyes: