OCCUPIED JERUSALME, July 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmmoud Abbas held Tuesday, July 1, a joint press conference with Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon ahead of their talks in Sharon's office, with Abbas asserting that peace could only be materialized by giving the Palestinians their national rights.

"The peace we are looking for ... is a peace which resolves all the questions about the final status of the Palestinian territories and which gives the Palestinians their national rights, which includes the establishment of a Palestinian state," Abbas said.

He pressed for an end to Israel's policy of assassination, incursions into Palestinian self-rule zones and the release of all Palestinian prisoners, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"Murders and destructions can only provoke hatred and hostility," stressed the Palestinian premier with Sharon by his side.

Abbas called for a peace where "cooperation replaces doubt, prisoners are freed and where the common interests of the Israeli and Palestinian people are served."

He said that the conflict with Israel is "a political conflict… (and) We will end it through political means.

"We do not hold any animosity towards the people of Israel and we do not have any interest in continued conflict with you."

Abbas was hopeful the two sides would be able to establish joint committees to "lay the foundations" for a new partnership.

"Every day that passes without agreement is a lost opportunity.

"Every person killed is a human tragedy, so enough killing, enough death, enough pain and let's go together courageously without hesitation for the future that we all deserve."

For his part, Sharon told reporters that "painful comprises" must be made to achieve peace, claiming Israel would not make "any compromise with terrorism.

"My first and foremost responsibility is to the security of Israel and its citizens," he said.

"We have the chance to create a better future, a better life, a future of opportunity and hope. This appears more achievable than in the past," Sharon said, reading from a statement.

"I have no doubt that the image we present today is a picture of hope and optimism," he said.

Talks will tackle the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, including West Bank Fatah Secretary Marwan Barghuti, who is on trial in Israel on charges of "murder" and "heading a terrorist organization," AFP said according to a Palestinian official close to the talks.

Sharon said Monday, June 30, he had asked the Shin Beth domestic intelligence service to provide him with a detailed list of Palestinian prisoners to determine who could be released.

Included in the ceasefire declaration announced by Palestinian resistance groups on Sunday were several provisos, one of which was the Israeli release of Palestinian detainees.

Abbas and Sharon would also discuss an end to Israel's policy of assassinating Palestinian resistance fighters, a further lifting of the blockade on the Palestinian territories, and the freezing of Jewish settlement activity.

Addressing the Palestinian parliament in the West Bank city of Ramallah earlier Tuesday, Abbas said he would raise during the meeting the revival of joint committees that existed before the start of the Intifada in September 2000.

"Today I will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to lay down the basis for a security agreement through various committees," Abbas said.

"These committees were set up before the Intifada. There will be committees (once more) and we will discuss various issues," he said.

"We will discuss the settlements and an end to the assassinations and the siege," Abbas he added.

Abbas further said he expected that the Israeli army would withdraw from all positions occupied in the West Bank since the start of the Palestinian Intifada within six weeks.

"I expect Israel will complete the withdrawal (from all reoccupied Palestinian areas) within a month or a month and a half," Abbas told the Palestinian Legislative Council.