NEW YORK, Feb 14: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared on Monday that the war with Israelis is effectively over and that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is speaking "a different language" to the Palestinians.

He listed release of Palestinian prisoners by Israel as his top priority.

In his first interview with the New York Times after being elected president, Mr Abbas made special mention of Mr Sharon's commitment to withdraw from Gaza and dismantle all Israeli settlements there and four in the West Bank, adding that "is a good sign to start with" on the road to "real peace". "And now he has a partner."

Mr Abbas also affirmed that he had persuaded Hamas and Islamic Jihad to respect the mutual declaration of a truce that he and Mr Sharon announced last Tuesday at their first meeting in Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt

He said the war with the Israelis would be over "when Israelis declare that they will comply with the agreement I made in Sharm el Sheikh, and today our comrades in Hamas and Jihad said they are committed to the truce, the cooling down of the whole situation, and I believe we will start a new era".

Mr Abbas spoke with confidence and humour in fluent English. He also spoke of several developments, the paper said. While he is happy to coordinate Israel's withdrawal from Gaza with Mr Sharon, he said in the Times interview that the Palestinians need a political horizon looking toward a real state.

At their meeting in Sharm el Sheik, Mr Sharon had made many positive commitments, Mr. Abbas said, offering to form a joint committee to discuss releasing the 200 or so Palestinian prisoners held since before the 1993 Oslo accords, and the pullback of the Israeli military in the West Bank and the reopening of Gaza's seaport.

Mr Sharon also spoke "about the Palestinian independent democratic state" and "about the occupation, never to be an occupier anymore," Mr Abbas said.