Sharon arrives for talks with Blair on peace process

LONDON -- In a signal that Israel's troubled relationship with Europe is thawing, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is in Britain for a two-day visit, including talks with British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Mideast peace hopes.

Sharon also will meet with foreign secretary Jack Straw and leaders of the Jewish community in his first visit to London in more than a year.

The stumbling Israeli-Palestinian peace process is expected to lead many conversations but a soothing of strained ties between Israel and Britain is also seen as a key goal for the trip, which began Sunday.

"The only purpose (of the visit) ... is to put aside all the problems, the stones that were in the way of the relations of the two countries and really to open a new path between the countries," said Shuli Davidovich, a spokeswoman for the Israeli Embassy.

Davidovich said economic ties between the country was on the agenda, too. "We would like to see more British investment in Israel," he said.

British-Israeli relations have been strained since Britain hosted a conference on Palestinian reform in January without inviting Israel. Israel responded by preventing Palestinian delegates from traveling to the meeting.

Sharon was further aggrieved when Blair refused to meet with then-Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prior to Israeli elections in January.

Blair has pushed President Bush to forge ahead with the internationally backed road map, which aims to end 33 months of fighting and establish a Palestinian state by 2005.

British officials say Blair is expected to raise with Sharon issues such as illegal Jewish settlement outposts in the West Bank and the continuing construction of a security fence separating Israel from Palestinian areas.

The trip is Sharon's first to Western Europe since 2001 apart from a brief stopover in London in 2002 on his way home from Washington. Despite the spats with London, Israeli officials say Britain is seen as generally more supportive of Israel than most other European Union member states.

Sharon, in an interview to two British newspapers ahead of the trip, accused Palestinian President Yasser Arafat of interfering with the work of Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas and urged European leaders to cut ties to Arafat.

"Every act of this nature only postpones the progress in the process," Sharon said. An aide said Israel might re-examine deporting Arafat if he kept trying to "scuttle the peace process."

The Palestinians are demanding that Israel release the estimated 7,000 prisoners it holds, most on suspicion of involvement in terrorism. Israel has agreed to release several hundred only, and the issue has emerged as a key test of the fledgling peace moves.

Davidovich said that Monday's private meeting between Blair and Sharon -- they will be accompanied by only one aide apiece -- will allow the two men to strengthen their relationship on a personal basis.

Davidovich said Sharon was also likely to raise his concerns about the militant group Hamas and Iran's links to terrorism.

A British Foreign Office spokesman said Blair would also discuss the cases of three Britons killed or injured in Israel.

British cameraman James Miller was shot and killed in Rafah on May 1 while filming a documentary about the impact of violence on children. Israeli soldiers shot and killed aid worker Iain Hook on Nov. 22 during a gunbattle with armed Palestinians in the West Bank. Activist Tom Hurndall, 21, has been in a coma since he was shot through the head by Israeli troops in the Gaza Strip's Rafah refugee camp April 11.