Sharon seeks meeting with George Bush

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is trying to arrange a meeting with US President George Bush to discuss a Mideast peace plan.

But the chances of such a summit taking place were slim, a senior official in Sharon’s office conceded today.

Preparations for a possible US-led attack on Iraq were likely to take up all Bush’s time in the days ahead, he said.

Sharon, whose hard-line Likud party won a sweeping victory in a general election on Tuesday, visited Washington seven times during his first term.

He has expressed some objections to a US-backed “road map” to Palestinian statehood, which calls for, among other things, that Israel freeze settlement construction in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Sharon has nearly two months to form a ruling coalition with a majority in Israel’s fractured parliament. He has said he prefers a broad-based alliance of Likud, the centre-left Labour party and smaller factions.

However, Labour leader Amram Mitzna has said he will remain in the opposition. Unless Mitzna changes his mind, Sharon will have to form a coalition with right-wing parties that rule out Palestinian statehood and could demand even tougher action against the Palestinians.