Crosslinking of strongly charged chains via multivalent ions of valence z was treated within the Flory approach, which accounts only for the treelike architecture of the clusters formed. Density- density correlations due to the electrostatic nature of the system were considered with a modified random-phase approximation. At a certain concentration of multivalent ions that play the role of effective stickers among z monomers, an infinitely large polymer network was formed. We analyzed the gelation driven by the formation of locally neutral clusters induced by divalent and trivalent ions. (C) 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.