Labour leaders debate joining Sharon government

Leaders of the Israeli Labour Party are meeting shortly to decide whether to join a national unity government under the Likud leader, Ariel Sharon.

His crushing defeat of the Labour leader, Ehud Barak, in the election for prime minister earlier this month, has left the party deeply divided as its six-hundred-strong central committee meets to make the decision.

The former prime minister, Shimon Peres, who correspondents say is likely to be chosen as interim Labour leader, favours joining the new government in which Mr Sharon has offered Labour several key posts.

But other Labour figures -- including the out-going foreign and justice ministers Shlomo Ben Ami and Yossi Beilin -- are expected to argue that Labour could not stick to its beliefs on peace in such a coalition.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service