JERUSALEM, March 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Israel's ruling Likud party on Thursday adopted a resolution urging the Knesset (parliament) passage of a law mandating a referendum over the planned Gaza pullout, Israel Radio said.

   But Likud Central Committee Chairman Tzachi Hanegbi said earlier that even if the resolution is approved, there is "no chance" that a referendum bill will win Knesset approval. 

   Likud leader and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told Likud Central Committee that he would not allow extremist forces to take over the party and that the disengagement plan would be implemented as planned. 

   "The Likud is a national, liberal movement, and we must do everything so that it stays that way," Sharon said. "I will not let the radical margins dictate our path."

   Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom told the Central Committee that a referendum would prevent civil war and was not a move against Sharon, who strongly opposes a plebiscite.

   Shalom also said a referendum would take only 60 days, in contrast with Sharon's contention that it would significantly delay the implementation of the pullout.

   "I am not proposing a referendum against the prime minister, a referendum against the (disengagement) plan," Shalom said, adding that it is for "national unity" and the unity of the Likud party.

   Under the Sharon-sponsored disengagement plan, Israel will withdraw all the 21 settlements from the Gaza Strip and four of 120 from the West Bank by the end of this year.  Enditem