Sharon looks for peace contacts

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israel's new Prime Minister Ariel Sharon calls for personal contacts with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to kickstart the peace process

In a letter to Arafat, Sharon said he wanted to "put an end to the cycle of bloodshed" through dialogue and direct negotiations.

Sharon's note was in response to a congratulatory letter Arafat sent to him after he took office on Wednesday.

At Thursday's hand-over ceremony, Sharon said he was ready to resume peace talks with the Palestinians, but added there must first be an end to the violence.

Sharon reiterated that point in his letter to the Palestinian leader. He told Arafat he hoped the meetings would lead to a halt in the Palestinian uprising against Israeli rule that erupted six months ago.

VIDEO The formal handover of power by various parts of the Israeli government is shown by CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney (March 8) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Excerpt from Sharon's speech presenting the new government (March 7) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media) Chief Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erakat reacts to Sharon's speech (March 7) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)    AUDIO Foreign Minister Shimon Peres tells CNN "bullets will not divide us" 950K/98 sec. AIFF or WAV sound    GALLERY Timeline gallery: Ariel Sharon    RESOURCES Profiles of members of the new Israeli government Composition of the Israeli parliament

His reply read: "I hope that we will find a way to conduct personal contacts already in the near future in order to put an end to the cycle of bloodshed, hatred and incitement, and to renew security and economic cooperation on the way towards achieving true peace.

"I believe that the only way to reach cherished peace is through dialogue and direct negotiations on the basis of agreements and written and signed commitments between us.

"The basis for the peace process stands on the supreme principle of solving disputes in peaceful ways while refraining completely from the use of violence and terrorism and a joint struggle against them."

Sharon, 73, took the reins of power from Ehud Barak, whom he crushed in an election held a month ago, on a pledge to resume peacemaking after stamping out violence.

He heads an eight-party coalition government -- including Barak's center-left Labor Party, his own right-wing Likud movement, and the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party.

He said on Thursday: "I am ready to conduct negotiations with him (Arafat), but it requires there being quiet, security."

More than 465 people have been killed in clashes, ambushes, bombings and shellings since September 28, the day Sharon visited the Temple Mount -- Haram al-Sharif to Muslims -- a site sacred to both Judaism and Islam.

The Palestinians were outraged that Sharon would come to the site that has become a fault-line for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He is the man they blame for the 1982 massacre of Palestinian refugees by pro-Israeli Lebanese militia during Israel's invasion of southern Lebanon.

Sharon, as foreign minister in the government of Benjamin Netanyahu in 1998, refused to shake Arafat's hand during U.S.-hosted peace talks.

The latest uprising erupted in late September after peace negotiations faltered. Sharon says he will outline his plans for peace in a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush at the White House on March 20.

Sharon met Foreign Minister Shimon Peres late on Thursday for what his office described as an initial work meeting even as fresh battles flared between Israelis and Palestinians.

But his promise to restore Israeli security has collided with the reality of fresh violence in the West Bank and Gaza.

Palestinian gunmen and Israeli troops traded fire in an extended clash near the West Bank city of Nablus, and another exchange of fire erupted in the West Bank town of Ramallah, witnesses and the Israeli army said.

Palestinian witnesses said Israeli troops on Mount Gerizim near Nablus launched shells during the confrontation there, damaging homes in a city suburb.

An army spokesman reported that soldiers had fired one tank cannon shell at a specific target. Palestinian hospital sources said two Palestinians had been wounded in the fighting.

In Gaza, Palestinian and Israeli security sources accused each other of shelling in the area of the Jewish settlement of Netzarim, where the army ordered residents into shelters.

A prolonged battle between Palestinian gunmen and Israeli soldiers ensued, though no injuries were immediately reported.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Israeli Prime Minister's Office
Israel Defense Forces
Palestinian National Authority

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