Israel PM wins crucial Likud vote

Mr Sharon says the world is waiting for Israel to pull out of Gaza

Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has won the backing of his governing Likud Party to enter coalition talks with the Labour opposition.

Initial results show that the 3,000 members of Likud's Central Committee voted 62% in favour of the move.

Mr Sharon had warned that failure to back him could lead to early elections and interrupt plans to evacuate the Gaza Strip.

Mr Sharon is expected to start talks with the Labour Party immediately.

Negotiations to form a new coalition government will also include two ultra-Orthodox parties, which Likud members see as an important counterweight to any left-wing influence from Labour.

Weak position

The vote revokes a Likud Party ban on entering a coalition with Labour that was issued in August.

The BBC's Barbara Plett in Jerusalem says the vote frees Mr Sharon to build the coalition that he feels he needs to carry out his disengagement policy.

Elections now would be a major mistake... we are in the midst of an initiative to evacuate the Gaza Strip Ariel Sharon

While many Likud members are not happy about sharing power with Labour, most wanted to avoid early elections, our correspondent says.

The government is in a weak position, controlling just a third of seats in parliament, the Knesset, after losing three coalition partners.

Last week, Mr Sharon sacked ministers from his main remaining coalition partner, Shinui, when they voted against his budget pledges to boost funding for ultra-Orthodox Jewish parties.

If the budget fails to win parliamentary approval by early next year, Mr Sharon would have to call for new national elections.

'Historic opportunity'

The move may signal at least a pause in the crises that have rocked Israel's government for the past six months, our correspondent adds.

Labour supports disengagement from Gaza, hoping it can be turned from a unilateral move into an integral part of a new peace process.

Analysts say coalition talks could start as early as Friday - although Labour still has to agree on terms for joining an alliance with Likud and suffers its own internal rifts.

"I am struggling to achieve a national unity government," Reuters news agency quoted Labour leader Shimon Peres as saying on Friday.

Mr Sharon's plan for Gaza would see Israel remove thousands of Jewish settlers - and the troops that protect them - from the Gaza Strip while retaining overall control over the area's borders.

Mr Sharon had urged all members of his party to vote, telling them apathy was not an option.

He said the planned pullout from Gaza had won broad support in parliament and "must be brought to its conclusion in order to allow Israel to make progress and seize an historic opportunity".