Real chance new Palestinian leaders will abandon violence: Sharon

HERZLIYA, Israel, Dec 16 (AFP) - There is a real chance that the post-Arafat Palestinian leadership will abandon violence and pursue a strategy of reconciliation and negotiation, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Thursday.
"The most genuine and greatest opportunity for building a new and different relationship with the Palestinians was created following the death of Yasser Arafat who constituted the primary obstacle to peace," Sharon told a security conference near Tel Aviv.
"Now there is a real chance that new Palestinian leaders will rise, those who will be elected, who will truly abandon the path of terror and instead will advance a strategy of reconciliation and negotiation without violence, terror and hatred."
The moderate PLO chairman Mahmud Abbas, who has called for an end to the armed intifada, is the favourite to win elections due to take place on January 9 for a replacement for Arafat.

12/16/2004 18:31 GMT - AFP