Sharon fails to deliver security for Israelis

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon "has totally failed" to deliver on his election promise to ensure security for Israelis, Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told Al-Hayat daily.

"Sharon, who came (to power) on the basis of his ability to bring peace and security to Israelis, has totally failed," Maher told the London-based daily Al Hayat, which is sold in Egypt and other Arab states.

"The fact that Sharon abstained from military retaliation after the attack in Tel Aviv, shows that he understood... that military action will not resolve the problem," Maher told the newspaper.

"That's why he started discussing the Mitchell report, which nonetheless does not prevent him from trying to change its terms," he added.

Maher said that Egypt had this week approved Israel's nomination of Ghideon Ben Ami as its new ambassador to Egypt, replacing Zvi Mazel.

The approval was "a message to the Israeli government," he added. "With this message we mean:

'As long as you don't behave thoughtlessly after the Tel Aviv bombing and as long as you are prudent, there will be positive signals from us.'

Maher said the U.S., European and U.N. diplomatic involvement in the region "shows that the whole world has understood the danger of an Israeli policy based on repression and increasing the suffering of the Palestinian people."

Maher warned against Israel's demand for Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority to arrest Islamic militants and others accused of anti-Israeli attacks.

"The Israelis must understand that it is in nobody's interest to weaken the Palestinian Authority," he said.