Egyptian FM holds talks with Sharon

Maher held around an hour of talks with Sharon at his offices in Jersualem before heading for a meeting with his counterpart Silvan Shalom in his first visit to Israel for more than two years.

Sharon said he welcomed the presence of Maher in brief comments at the start of their meeting.

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Egypt, along with Jordan, is one of only two Arab countries to have diplomatic ties with Israel but relations have been strained since the start of the Palestinian Intifada in September 2000 when Egypt withdrew its ambassador.

A thaw in relations however has been detected in recent weeks with Shalom recently meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Geneva while Cairo has also been taking a leading role in so far unsuccessful attempts to broker a new ceasefire by Palestinian militants.

Egypt's role as a mediator comes as Israel considers abandoning the bilateral peace process.

Sharon said in a speech last week that he would implement his own "disengagement plan" if the Palestinians did not meet their commitments under the roadmap peace blueprint within a few months.

Palestinian premier Ahmed Qorei has criticised the "threats" by Sharon but vowed that an agreement is still possible.

Meanwhile the Israeli defence establishment was left reeling Monday after a group of soldiers from the army's top commando unit said they would refuse to take part in missions in the Palestinian territories.

Deputy defence minister Zeev Boim said that the reservists should be court-martialled and stripped of their uniforms.

"These soldiers should be stripped of their uniform and face judgement for their disobedience and rebellion, regardless of the unit in which they serve, whether they be pilots, cooks or mechanics," Boim told public radio.

The 10 soldiers and three officers from the elite Sayeret Matkal unit wrote a letter to the prime minister saying they would no longer participate in a "rule of oppression" and the defence of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

"We will no longer corrupt the stamp of humanity in us through carrying out the missions of an occupation army ... In the past, we fought for a justified cause (but today) we have reached the boundary of oppressing another people," the letter said.