Sharon appoints hardliner for talks with US peace envoys

America's two Middle East peace envoys flew into Israel yesterday to find that Ariel Sharon, the Prime Minister, had appointed a hardline former general, Meir Dagan, as the chief negotiator with whom they will discuss a ceasefire.

General Dagan's past record includes calling for war against the Palestinians and demanding that Yasser Arafat be exiled. His appointment was a rebuff to the Foreign Minister, Shimon Peres, who wanted the job.

The US envoys ­ a retired Marines general, Anthony Zinni, and William Burns, the Assistant Secretary of State for the Near East ­ are expected to meet Mr Sharon and Mr Peres today and Yasser Arafat tomorrow.

Mr Sharon also publicly insisted on seven days of complete calm before Israel would implement the Mitchell peace plan ­ a condition regarded as unrealistic by the US State Department, the European Union and the United Nations.

Palestinian officials said yesterday that the developments showed Israel was not interested in substantive peace negotiations. They also cited the assassination on Friday of a top Hamas military leader as further proof.

Israeli officials have accused the Palestinians of being uncommitted to peace, citing continued attacks ­ including dozens of mortar firings and a suicide bomber who lightly injured two Israeli border police at Erez in Gaza yesterday.

The Israeli armed forces confirmed they had planted a booby-trap bomb that killed five Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip last week. They claimed the bomb was placed at a spot where Palestinian gunmen repeatedly fired at an Israeli military post and a settlement. The death of the children "was very regrettable", a spokesman said.