The latest killings came as Sharon faced the tough task of persuading Labor leader Amram Mitzna to join a unity coalition, and media reports said the dovish Mitzna had once again refused to sign up in their first meeting since last Tuesday's elections, declining to provide the right-winger with a “safety net.”

Katsav, a former member of Sharon’s Likud who has also called for a unity alliance, opened the talks to formally decide which faction leader would be best placed to form a majority coalition government to tackle the 28-month-old intifada and a crippling economic crisis.

There was no doubt that the 74-year-old right-wing incumbent would be asked to head the new coalition after his Likud party emerged the main winner from the election, doubling its number of seats in parliament to 38.

Its center-left rival Labor obtained only half that number and Mitzna led his party into opposition to regroup after its worst ever election result.

Katsav spokesman Adar Avissar said the president’s consultations would take around three days, although legally he had more than a week to name a new leader.

Sharon wants to build a broad national unity government with Labor and the secular center-right Shinui, but is faced with the dovish Mitzna’s implacable opposition to his leadership.

Sticking to its election vow, Labor Monday has rejected an invitation from Sharon to form a coalition government with his Likud party.

Mitzna turned down Sharon’s request in his first meeting with the right-wing leader since Likud triumphed in last week’s election.

Sharon has made it clear that he favors a coalition with Labor to one with other right-wing parties and religious groups, reported the BBC news online.

However, Mitzna had insisted throughout the election campaign that his center-left party would not join a government with the hawkish Likud party.

“Sharon’s positions are non-starters,” said Avraham Shohat, a Labor MP. “We can’t be in a government where everything that we told our voters will not be fulfilled.”

In contrast to Sharon’s hard line stance, Mitzna favors unconditionally resuming peace talks with the Palestinians and advocates dismantling Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Meeting Monday, Sharon and Mitzna spoke on security and political issues, the Prime Minister’s office said.

“The Prime Minister (told Mitzna) that a unity government, as broad a government as possible, was vital to the people of Israel, especially in the face of challenges on our doorstep and the hopes which the future holds in store for us,” said a statement from Sharon’s office.

Labor broke up Sharon’s previous national unity government last October in a dispute over funding for Jewish settlements, which Mitzna now wants to see cleared from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.

Sharon, long a champion of the settler movement, is hoping to use widespread calls for national unity in the face of continuing Palestinian (resistance) attacks and the threat of war in Iraq to pressure Mitzna to bow to his demands.

Norway Wants NATO Troops Sent In

In a development related to the ongoing Israeli onslaught on the Palestinians, the head of Norway’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee said Monday that NATO should send troops to the Middle East to act as a barrier between Israelis and Palestinians. The proposal was later backed by the country's foreign minister.

“There is a need for a real, strong military force. NATO should consider the possibility of shouldering such a mission,” the committee head, Thorbjoern Jagland, said on NRK public radio, AFP reported.

Jagland, a former member of the U.S.-led Mitchell committee which proposed a blueprint for peace in the Middle East, suggested that a NATO force could be deployed between Israel and a future Palestinian state to prevent attacks from either side.

“The fact that the Palestinians have been stripped of their freedom and of their own state is the main reason for the acts of terrorism we are witnessing around the world,” he argued.

“That is why we need to build a comprehensive policy for the entire region,” he said, adding that he feared a war in Iraq would further ignite the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“The European Union will certainly take over peace missions in Europe. So NATO should take care of peace missions elsewhere. What is more natural than having the Alliance involved in the Middle East,” asked Jagland, a member of Norway’s Labor opposition.

Norway is a member of NATO, but not of the EU.

Foreign Minister Jan Petersen, whose Conservative Party policies differ from those of Jagland, welcomed the proposal.

“It’s an interesting thought. It would take time before this could take place but it is important to make contributions in order to help re-launch the peace process,” Petersen told NRK.

“One condition ... is that the two parties in the conflict agree on such an arrangement and the nature of the zones where the patrols would be,” he added.