If pressed, say stopping settlements is "a kind of ethnic cleansing".

He also called on Israel to stop building settlements and to halt the construction of its separation barrier in the West Bank.

But he is not prepared to stop existing settlements from expanding, he said.

The question is how to clear the path for peace by stopping settlements, and the only way at hand is to condition the loan guarantees.

"When we call to stop settlements, we call to stop an illegal operation," he said.

If, just hypothetically, Israel had agreed to stop building settlements, what would have been the next "fundamental sticking point" dreamed up by the Palestinian "negotiators"?

The so-called road map to peace calls for Israel to stop building settlements on land it captured in 1967.

Do they want it badly enough to stop building settlements in the occupied territories, as the Bush Administration would like?

How about you lot stop illegal settlements then?

It is time to stop and remove illegal settlements.