Abbas: We want meeting with Sharon

Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday that a meeting between himself and Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is needed to push forward the peace process.

Abbas and Sharon last met at a February 8 summit in at the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh where they declared an end to the more than four years of violence.

"We need a meeting to push the peace process forward and to discuss the implementation of the agreements held between us, like that of Sharm el-Sheikh, and to talk about the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza," Abbas told reporters.

Abbas said there was a proposal for a meeting but no date had yet been set. While violence has dropped neither side has fully implemented its obligations.

As part of the truce, Israel promised to turn over five West Bank towns to Palestinian security control. But after withdrawing from two towns, Israel has frozen further handovers, saying the Palestinians haven't been tough enough on armed militants.

Abbas has preferred to negotiate with militant groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad to end attacks, but has refused to move against them as Israel and the U.S. demand.

Wants disengagement to be start, not end

Abbas is also seeking assurances that the planned Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip will be an initial step toward implementing the long-dormant, internationally-backed road map peace plan, which envisions

the creation of a Palestinian state.

The Palestinians also want Israel to coordinate the withdrawal with them.

With the road map stalled, Sharon is pushing forward with his plan to withdraw unilaterally from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements this summer. About 9,000 settlers will be uprooted from their homes.

Sharon has said the plan will help Israel maintain control over large blocs of West Bank settlements, where the vast majority of the 240,000 Jewish settlers live.