WASHINGTON, Feb 8: Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has failed to convince US President George W. Bush to “boycott” Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and rely on other Palestinian leaders for peace negotiations.

After their fourth meeting since Bush took over the White House a year ago late on Thursday, the two leaders emerged with different views on how the Middle East peace process should evolve.

For Sharon, Arafat “is not and never will be a partner. He’s out of play”. The prime minister called for an “alternative Palestinian leadership”.

Bush, on the other hand, agreed on keeping Arafat under pressure, but stopped short of questioning his credentials as representative of the Palestinian people.

“I assured the prime minister (Sharon) that we would continue to keep pressure on Mr Arafat to convince him that he must take serious, concrete, real steps to reduce terrorist activities in the Middle East,” Bush said during a joint press conference after his meeting with Sharon.

Before the meeting, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said Bush would “make clear that the United States will remain engaged in the region and remain engaged with the Palestinian Authority” headed by Arafat.

But Sharon repeated his views at a press conference after his meetings with Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney.

“More pressure must be put on Arafat,” he said, “because it can accelerate the emergence of an alternative leadership, because Arafat is directly responsible for the suffering of the Palestinian population.”

“It’s possible to speak with other Palestinians like I have done,” said Sharon, referring to his first meeting on Wednesday with three top Palestinian officials, including Palestine legislative council president Ahmad Qorei and the PLO’s number two, Mahmud Abbas.—AFP