Jerusalem - The Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Ariel Sharon, was said to be unenthusiastic yesterday about a call by the Palestinian Authority President, Mr Yasser Arafat, for the two leaders to issue a joint end-to-violence statement, Peter Hirschberg reports.
The Israeli leader's aides also scoffed at reports that Mr Arafat had given an order on Wednesday for the halting of all Palestinian mortar attacks.
Mr Sharon's office released a statement yesterday saying that what was needed was "not a declaration, but the issuing of an order by the chairman of the Palestinian Authority to his forces and practical steps he must take to stop the terror and violence".
Mr Arafat's call was relayed to the Israeli leader by Senator Jim Colby, a Republican from Arizona, who along with a Congressional group met both leaders on Thursday. The Israeli Prime Minister also appeared unimpressed by reports that Mr Arafat had issued orders to end mortar fire on Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip and communities inside Israel proper. The Ha'aretz daily newspaper quoted a source in the Prime Minister's office saying that the order "was made to impress the Americans, so Arafat can get invited to Washington".
There were violent confrontations yesterday when Israeli police stormed onto the religious site most hotly disputed between the two sides - known by the Jews as the Temple Mount and by the Muslims as Haram al-Sharif - after Palestinian youths began throwing stones at an Israeli police station there, at the end of Friday Muslim prayers.