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Sharon, Arafat Hold First Phone conversation to Discuss Peace Talks
Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon on Friday held his first telephone conversation with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat after he defeated Prime Minister Ehud Barak with a landslide victory on Tuesday.
Sharon and Arafat "apparently discussed the peace process" in their conversation and both of them "obviously wanted to resume the peace talks," an official in Sharon's office said.
Arafat congratulated Sharon on his election victory in a "very good atmosphere," the official added.
Arafat stressed that the Palestinians want to continue the peace talks with Israel and that the talks should resume from the point where they left off in negotiations with Barak's government.
However, Sharon reportedly said that firstly, the two sides should "find a way to make progress to talk peace," suggesting the negotiating model Barak had adopted may be irrelevant to the new prime minister.
Sharon also urged that the precondition for the resumption of talks should be "a complete halt to violence," which had rocked the region for more than four and a half months.
After that, Sharon claimed that "I would be glad to do all I can to help innocent (Palestinian) civilians."
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