Israeli Arab Knesset member, Ahmad Tibi, denied Sunday press reports saying that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon agreed to schedule a meeting, during a telephone conversation Friday, reported Haaretz newspaper.
"In order to maintain a channel of personal contact," Tibi said, "a meeting is needed between the two leaders, but this option did not come up on Friday.”
According to a transcript of the conversation, which appeared Sunday in the daily Yediot Aharonot, Arafat asked Sharon to ease the economic sanctions imposed by outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Barak in an attempt to quell the Intifada uprising, according to the paper.
Arafat told Sharon that the residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip were on the verge of starvation.
According to the transcript, Sharon agreed to ease the sanctions on condition the Palestinian Authority moved to end the violence completely, added Haaretz.
On Friday, Sharon was quoted by AFP as saying that he intended to meet Arafat, but there was unlikely to be much on the negotiating table as the levels of violence rise again.
Sharon said Friday that he planned to meet Arafat, but signaled he would take a tough-line in any peace talks, according to AFP – Albawaba.com
