London, July 14: British officials are unlikely to break off contact with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat despite attempts by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to convince them otherwise, a senior British political source said. Sharon arrived in London yesterday for three days of bridge-building talks with his British counterpart, Tony Blair, and other senior British officials, during which he was expected to stress the need to further isolate his arch-foe Arafat. But the source told a news agency the British government's contacts with the veteran Palestinian leader were unlikely to change in the near future.


Although it was "understood" that Arafat was looking to ensure his own political survival, Britain's main concern was to weigh which issues were most likely to promote the peace process, he said.

"We are not maintaining a full-on relationship with Yasser Arafat. It is very much a tactical issue," he said, without giving further details. "We're playing it by ear."


"We're always asking ourselves what is most likely to promote real progress on the ground and what is most likely to work against that," he said. "But it is not a black-and-white issue."


Last week Sharon told Britain's conservative daily telegraph newspaper that European leaders were making a "major mistake" by continuing to maintain contacts with Arafat, whom Israel accuses of trying to derail the Mideast peace roadmap, a us-backed blueprint for ending the 32-months of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed. Bureau Report