Gaza withdrawal Al-Quds city, Jan 6, SPA -- Israel's army chief announced Thursdayhe'll expel officers and soldiers who refuse to participatein a planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and parts ofthe West Bank. The warning by Lt. Gen. Moshe Yaalon came after 34 reserveofficers wrote to their commander that the Gaza withdrawal,along with the dismantling of Jewish settlements, isillegal and that soldiers must not participate in it, the Associated Press reported. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon consolidated a pro-pullback coalition by signing up a small ultra-Orthodox Jewish party. Coalition agreements were to be signed later Thursday. Also Thursday, Palestinian presidential candidate MahmoudAbbas reached out to Israel. Abbas told the Israeli daily Maariv that his first orderof business after next week's election is to seek a renewalof peace talks and to start cleaning up the Palestiniansecurity forces. "We will begin a dialogue with theIsraeli side to see if there is willingness to renew theprocess," he said.--SPA1306 Local Time 1006 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/230415