Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Monday that his country should press forward with a building plan to connect the largest West Bank Jewish settlement to Jerusalem despite objections from the Palestinians and the United States.

"There is a need to carry out construction in the E-1 corridor," Sharon told the Knesset (parliament)'s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.

"This program has been in existence for 10 years. We should definitely move ahead with it," Sharon said without giving any time frame for the construction.

Sharon's remarks were condemned by Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat.

"If carried out, this E-1 project will destroy the peace process and will undermine prospects for any future negotiations on the final status agreements," Erekat said.

"We call upon the United States to stop this project if they want to give the peace process a chance," Erekat added.

Meanwhile, US officials repeatedly expressed objections to Israel's settlement expansion plan, declared in late March to build 3,500 new houses in Ma'aleh Adumin, the largest settlement home to some 36,000 Israelis.

In Washington, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said at a news briefing that the United States "opposes the expansion of any settlement activity."

"That has been our view and that remains our view," he added.

McClellan said the issue of settlement activity will come up during next Monday's meeting between US President George W. Bush and Sharon in Bush's Texas ranch.

Last month, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the settlement expansion was at odds with US policy and should come to a "full stop."

Bush administration officials said Washington's stance had not softened since Rice's statement, calling the White House's message "direct, clear and unequivocal."

They said the Bush administration was putting pressure on Israel largely behind the scenes before the Bush-Sharon meeting.

Also on Monday, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Palestinian militants wanted by Israel would be merged into security apparatuses as a deal reached with Israel to settle the issue.

A name list of wanted Palestinian militants for involvement in armed anti-Israeli attacks had been handed over, Abbas said, adding that he had asked Israel to add more militants to the list.

The list included 495 militants from the West Bank and 28 from the Gaza Strip, all of whom would be merged into different security apparatuses and institutions, Abbas said.

He said that under the deal, the wanted militants would no longer fear for becoming targets by Israel.

"They can get back home and lead a normal life," said Abbas.

Abbas noted that "law violators" would be brought to justice, referring to some discontented militants who stormed his Ramallah headquarters last week.

"They would be chased and taken to court," Abbas said, adding that "there are no more than five or six militants."

As a goodwill gesture, Sharon said Israel is discussing with the Palestinian National Authority over the possible release of 400 more Palestinian prisoners.

Israel agreed to free some 900 Palestinian prisoners as part of an agreement reached at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit on Feb. 8.

However, leading Palestinian militant groups vowed to defy Abbas's bid to disarm militants wanted by Israel. Leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad (Holy War) rejected Abbas's efforts outright while al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, part of his own Fatah movement, appeared divided on how to respond.

The Islamic Jihad movement threatened that it would resume attacks on Israel if Jewish extremists carry out attacks against the al Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam.

"The whole cease-fire will collapse in response to any attack on al Aqsa Mosque," said a statement read by a masked militant at a rally in the southern Gaza Strip town of Rafah.

Masked militants carrying automatic rifles marched through the streets of Rafah near the borders with Egypt while other Jihad supporters chanted slogans.

And in Jerusalem, police beefed up security around the al Aqsa Mosque compound over fears that Jewish extremists would attack the site in a bid to derail the Gaza withdrawal plan.

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2005)