Jerusalem: The Palestinian Authority today (May 3, 2004) called upon Israel to give up its unilateral disengagement plan after Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's Likud Party overwhelmingly rejected it and asked it to return to negotiations to implement the stalled internationally brokered "road map" plan for peace.

A close aide to Palestinian Authority Chairman Nabil Abu Rudeineh made the appeal as Sharon faced a humiliating defeat in his Likud party referendum which rejected the US-backed proposal to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza Strip and some isolated settlements in the West Bank.

Cabinet Minister and high profile chief negotiator Saeb Erekat asked US President George W Bush to withdraw the guarantees he extended to Sharon last month to allow Israel to maintain some settlement blocs in the West Bank and blocked the right of return of Palestinian refugees inside Israel.

"It's a frustrating day for us to see these Likud members taking themselves seriously to determine our fate. They have no right to overrule signed agreements," Erekat told local media.

Chairman Yasser Arafat is to convene his Cabinet shortly to discuss the fallout of Likud Party referendum on Sharon's disengagement plan.

The Palestinian Authority said yesterday (May 2, 2004) that the Likud has no right to decide on the fate of Palestinians.

"I hope this will be an incentive to go back to the right path so we can find a just and permanent solution that will ensure the establishment of a Palestinian State," Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia was quoted as saying by the local media.

"Nobody can decide on behalf of the Palestinians. No regional or international party has the right or can unilaterally decide on final status issues and on our legitimate rights," he said.