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Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon expressed Wednesday his optimism on the possibility of achieving an agreement with the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), the Israel TV reported.
In an interview with the Israel TV, Sharon said he has seen "an opportunity for a breakthrough in political settlement for the first time."
"I see for the first time the possibility of a political agreement with the Palestinians. It won't be easy, but the possibility exists," Sharon said.
He also confirmed that he had agreed to hold a meeting with a senior PNA official in the next few days.
Sharon's remarks came a week after Palestinian interior ministerAbdel Razaq al-Yahya reiterated the PNA's call to militant groups to cease suicide attacks in Israel.
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has also stated the PNA's support for an European Union plan to tackle the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which has left close to 2,500 people dead, most of them Palestinians.
"We accept (the plan) in principle and we will provide you with a detailed response later," Arafat told the visiting Danish ForeignMinister Per Stig Moeller in Ramallah.
As for the US planned attacks on Iraq, Sharon told the Israel TVthat Israel would not interfere in the affairs, but Israel would "fully support any decision by the United States on the war against terror."
Israel will know in advance when the United States would launch the attacks, the prime minister said, adding Israel will take all the necessary steps to prepare for the attacks.
(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2002)
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