ARABS-ISRAEL - Nov 28 - Sharon And Abbas, Ready To Meet.

In an interview with Newsweek magazine, Israeli PM Sharon says he is ready to meet Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and try to coordinate a Gaza pullout with a new Palestinian government. He also said he too is ready for a summit with Sharon, but after the Jan 9 elections in the Palestinian territories in which he is a leading candidate to replace Yasser Arafat as president. "When they would like to meet, we will meet", Sharon said, when asked whether he was ready to meet with Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen. Abbas, responding to a similar question, said that "after the elections, I'm ready to meet at any time with Sharon". Sharon also suggested he would seek to discuss with the Palestinians his plan to withdraw Israeli soldiers and Jewish settlers from the Gaza Strip next year, which has been billed as a unilateral move. Sharon said: "I am going to make every effort to coordinate our disengagement plan with the new Palestinian government-one that can assume control over areas we evacuate". Abbas said the Palestinians were not yet ready to handle security in Gaza but hoped it would be possible. Abbas also said: "Now we have some sort of chaos, especially in Gaza. We are ready to take [Gaza] when we rebuild our security apparatus. If you tell me (do it) now, I'll say I cannot, but I'm working very hard to rebuild the security apparatus". Sharon said Israel would keep its troops away from Palestinian towns during the January elections. Israel "will take all the necessary steps to enable them to conduct their elections with as little interference as possible-by opening the roads and taking our forces out of their towns", Sharon said.