Sharon determined to pursue Gaza pullout

Newspapers and aides declared Sharon victorious after a rebel vote in his right-wing party for a referendum on the pullout was declared null and void because not enough people turned up for the informal show of hands.

Despite outrage from settlers and ultranationalists, the premier has refused to budge on his plan to recall 8,000 Jewish settlers from Gaza and several hundred from four northern West Bank enclaves, set to begin on July 20.

"I will not allow the extremist fringes to dictate their policies to me," he told the Likud central committee meeting, as rebels called for his resignation.

But less than a third of the committee's 3,000 members turned up, annulling the non-binding resolution under the terms of the party constitution.

"Those who voted do not represent the party and their real objective is to destroy the party's interior," Industry Minister Ehud Olmert, a close Sharon aide, told public radio.

However, the chairman of the parliamentary justice committee, Michael Eitan, said a referendum bill will be prepared for a first reading in the Knesset, or parliament, within 10 days.

But with no support from any other party, it has zero chance of passage.

The only remaining option for the extreme right, which is bent on bringing down the Sharon administration to jeopardise the pullout, is the 2005 state budget, which must pass its second and third readings by the end of the month.

"The prime minister himself did what he does best: he spoke over the heads of the central committee members to the public, turning a spotlight on the Likud rebels and ignoring a referendum," said the Maariv newspaper.

The Yediot Aharonot daily dismissed the vote as little more than an lobbying ploy with the 2006 elections in mind.