Direct contact channel between Mubarak, Sharon offices

The Israeli radio said on Tuesday that the Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt have established a direct contact channel between their two offices.

The radio said that Sharon's advisor for political affairs Dani Eyalon met on Sunday in Cairo with the political advisor of President Mubarak Osama al-Baz and handed him a message from Sharon to Mubarak asking for Mubarak's contribution to settle the differences between the Israeli and the Palestinian sides.

Eyalon said that the Palestinians, foremost being the chairman of the Palestinian Authority, Yasser Arafat " seek to violate stability in the region."