Sharon in bid to heal Israeli rift with Britain

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon arrived in London last night for talks aimed at improving strained relations with Britain and pushing forward the Middle East peace process.

The trip comes amid ongoing problems in the implementation of the international road map plan for ending the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

Mr Sharon will dine with British Prime Minister Tony Blair at Downing Street tomorrow and meet Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, opposition leader Iain Duncan Smith and local Jewish leaders.

Ahead of the visit, Israel’s ambassador to Britain Zvi Stauber said: “the expectation is that the trip will give a new impetus to relations between Israel and Britain which ... to the regret of both sides, have experienced some grating misunderstandings in recent months.”

The 13 months since Mr Sharon’s last visit to London in June 2002 have seen relations between the two countries come under strain on a number of occasions.

The Israeli government was infuriated when Mr Blair met Israeli Labour leader Amram Mitzna in the run-up to the Israeli elections but refused to see the then foreign minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mr Sharon in turn banned Palestinian delegates from travelling to London to attend a peace conference organised by the Foreign Office.

Mr Sharon himself, speaking ahead of the trip, accused Palestinian president Yasser Arafat of interfering with the work of his own, moderate prime minister Mahmoud Abbas, and urged European leaders to cut ties to the embattled Palestinian leader.

An aide said Israel might have to re-examine deporting Mr Arafat if he kept trying to “scuttle the peace process.”