Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has agreed to a plan presented by Defence Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer for a partial military withdrawal from the West Bank town of Hebron, public radio said.

However, Sharon has ordered Israeli troops to stay deployed on two hillsides within the formerly Palestinian-ruled sector of the flashpoint town to prevent snipers from shooting at Jewish settler enclaves in its centre.

Sharon gave his approval for the limited withdrawal after security consultations with Ben Eliezer, Army chief of Staff General Moshe Yahalon, military intelligence Chief General Zeev Farkash, West Bank military commander General Moshe Kaplinsky and Avi Dichter, head of Israel’s domestic security service, the radio said.