Sharon names tough ex-general to lead talks with U.S. envoys

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has appointed a tough former general -- instead of his foreign minister -- to head a negotiating team for talks with U.S. envoys on a Middle East peace.

Former general Meir Dagan is expected to meet with retired U.S. Marine Gen. Anthony Zinni and Assistant Secretary of State William Burns Monday.

Zinni and Burns are also scheduled to meet with Sharon Tuesday and to dine with Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres Tuesday evening.

Israel Radio reported that the Palestinian delegation that will deal with the U.S. envoys is expressing strong reservations about Dagan, who is viewed by many Palestinians as hawkish and a right-winger.

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U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell dispatched Zinni and Burns to the region in an attempt to get the Israelis and Palestinians to enter into a cease-fire agreement.

While the Palestinians have been pressing for peace talks to resume immediately, Sharon has said Israel will not negotiate until there is a seven-day period of "quiet."

Peres has expressed the desire to be actively involved in the negotiations. But Sharon is said to want Peres, Defense Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, and himself to guide the negotiating team led by Dagan, a security and counterterrorism expert.