TEL AVIV, March 24: Israel is seeking peace with the Arab world, including the Palestinians, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared on Wednesday in a speech marking the 25th anniversary of the Jewish state's peace treaty with Egypt.

"This is the kind of peace Israel is striving for, not only with Egypt and Jordan but with all Arab countries, first and foremost with our neighbours Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian Authority," he told deputies.

"Israel is willing to march forward again with its neighbours, beyond the already existing peace, with depth and determination, exactly as it did 25 years ago in signing the peace agreements with Egypt."

In his speech, Sharon praised the former Israeli leader Menachem Begin and Egyptian president Anwar Sadat for managing to "bridge the chasms of hatred and suspicion between the two countries".

Mr Sharon's calls for peace came just two days after Israel assassinated the founder and spiritual leader of the radical Hamas movement, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, provoking a chorus of outrage and anger in the Arab world and the rest of the international community. -AFP