Blair and Sharon meet for talks

Tony Blair today ran into a wall of resistance from Israel's Premier Ariel Sharon to his plea for a pause in the cycle of Middle East violence.

The two leaders avoided any repeat of yesterday's clash between Mr Blair and Syria's President Assad. They even managed a laboured joke about tonight's match between Chelsea and Hapoel Tel Aviv.

But Mr Sharon showed not a trace of readiness to ease his hard-line stance as he declared: "I have always said that for true peace, the state of Israel is ready to make painful compromises, but there will be no compromise when it comes to the security and safety of the citizens of the state of Israel. We will continue to apply our right of selfdefence."

Mr Sharon's unbending line drew the most passionate response yet from the Prime Minister as he appealed for everyone involved to be ready to "get their hands dirty" in the cause of peace. In a message as much to faint hearts on his own side as to Mr Sharon, Mr Blair said that while the peace effort was obviously at a low point "we have got to carry on trying".

He said the current crisis threatened real and worldwide dangers. And he continued: "You can either get your hands dirty sorting them out or you can stand aside and let events be driven by the extremists. It is a tense moment when all people of goodwill should put their shoulders to the wheel and try to drive this forward."

The British side claimed afterwards that Mr Sharon had proclaimed his readiness to "re-begin the peace process" as Mr Blair put it. They said the Israeli government even had negotiating teams standing by.

But there were conflicting reactions among observers, with some saying that the offer of negotiating teams was little more than a gesture, while others saw it as a real move forward.

Warm words from Mr Sharon for Mr Blair's diplomatic efforts spared the Prime Minister embarrassment on the scale he suffered in Damascus.

But the Israeli Premier was unable to resist a dig at what he called Mr Blair's own problems back home, saying that it was all the more generous for him to find the time to aid the cause of peace in the Middle East.

From his talks with Mr Sharon, the Prime Minister headed directly to Gaza and a meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Meanwhile, Israeli helicopter gunships today killed two alleged Palestinian terrorists while troops on the ground captured a third injured man.

The killings in the West Bank town of Tulkarm were seen as a direct snub to the international community's pleas to the Israeli government to reduce regional tensions while the bombing campaign in Afghanistan continues.

The Israeli army said today that the two men were part of a team planning a suicide bombing attack aimed at Israeli civilians in or near Tel Aviv.

Sam Kiley writes: Mr Blair's journey this afternoon to the heart of the territory controlled by the Palestinian Authority comes ahead of the most anti-British day in the Arab calendar, the 2 November anniversary of the signing of the Balfour Declaration 84 years ago which gave formal British backing for "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people".