ISRAEL Laborists added to coalition

Sharon, Peres met today; officials expect negotiations soon.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Prime Minister Ariel Sharon invited the moderate Labor Party into his shaky coalition today, and both sides said they expect to agree on a partnership relatively quickly.
An alliance with Labor would boost Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four isolated West Bank settlements by 2005. Coalition hard-liners, including those in Sharon's Likud Party, have been trying to sabotage a pullback.
Key sticking points remain. Labor expects to be given senior cabinet posts, including that of foreign minister for party chief Shimon Peres. However, senior Likud ministers now holding these jobs have threatened to stir a rebellion in the party if removed from their posts.
The talks occurred as U.S. Middle East envoys were in the region to discuss the Gaza withdrawal plan. White House officials Elliot Abrams and Steve Hadley were to meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia today and with Sharon on Tuesday, an Embassy spokesman said.
Sharon and Peres met privately for an hour this morning. Both sides said the talks had gone well.
"The prime minister turned to Shimon Peres and asked him to open negotiations on Labor joining the government. He asked that they begin as soon as possible," said Yoram Dori, a spokesman for Peres.
Peres was to meet with Labor lawmakers later today to discuss the invitation. A decision is to be made at a party meeting Tuesday.
Officials close to both men said they expected a deal soon.
Labor lawmaker Haim Ramon said negotiations became a realistic option after three conditions were met: Sharon's government accepted the Gaza withdrawal plan, the ultranationalist National Union left the coalition in protest of the planned pullout, and the attorney general decided not to charge Sharon in a corruption case.