So says none other than Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt. according to Haaretz in Israel.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday described Prime Minister Ariel Sharon as the Palestinians' best chance for peace, and said that Marwan Barghouti's decision to run in the elections for Palestinian Authority chairman had damaged Palestinian unity.

Mubarak's comments echoed those of his foreign minister, who returned the day before from a rare trip to Israel, that were strikingly upbeat and could mean warming relations between Israel and an important Middle East peace mediator at a crucial time.

"I think if they [Palestinians] can't achieve progress in the time of the current [Israeli] prime minister, it will be very difficult to make any progress in peace. He [Sharon] is capable of pursuing peace, and he is capable of reaching solutions, if he wants to," Mubarak told reporters in Port Said, where he had gone to inaugurate a new port project.

Ed Lasky   12 2 04