Sharon upset at secret Qurei-Peres meeting: newspaper

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, January 21, 2004

Sharon upset at secret Qurei-Peres meeting: newspaper

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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon revealed Monday that Palestinian National Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei met secretly with opposition leader Shimon Peres while avoiding meeting with him, Israeli Jerusalem Post reported on Jan. 20.

Sharon leaked the fact of the secret meeting to members of the Parliament Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, prompting claims by Peres that he had "exploited intelligence information for political purposes," the report said.

"It is unthinkable that in a democratic regime, the prime minister takes advantage of intelligence information to help him politically and to create an impression that my meetings with PNA officials are illegal," Peres was quoted by the newspaper as saying.

"What happened is unprecedented and I will not tolerate it," he added.

According to the report, Sharon responded that he heard about the meeting from one of the participants and did not utilize intelligence.

The Peres-Qurei meeting took place last Tuesday at the Herzliya home of UN envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, with the participation of PNA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and former aides of Peres, Uri Savir and Avi Gil.

Labor Party whip Dalia Itzik has asked Parliament Speaker ReuvenRivlin and Acting Attorney-General Edna Arbel to hold an "independent investigation" into Sharon's alleged use of "state intelligence" information for political purposes.

"Every time there is a cloud over Sharon's head, he tries to illegalize the opposition," Itzik told the Labor faction, "Whenever he is in any trouble, he resorts to character assassination."

Source: Xinhua

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