Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon explained on Thursday his reasons to quit the Likud party which he co-founded three decades ago, the Ha'aretz daily reported on its on-line edition.

Sharon told an editors convention in Tel Aviv that he intends to make every effort to reach an accord with the Palestinians if elected another term as prime minister.

Sharon cited this goal as his reason for leaving Likud. "I decided to leave Likud because I am looking ahead and want to reach an accord, and later peace. I didn't see this motivation in the body that I headed for many years," Sharon said.

Internal quarrels within Likud members also prompted him to leave the party and form the new party of Kadima (Forward).

"It seems inappropriate for me to waste my time and invest such great efforts to handle personality issues and disagreements with one rebel or another," Sharon added.

Some Likud members were furious at Sharon's disengagement plan, under which Israel ended its 38 years of occupation in the Gaza Strip in mid-September and evacuated some 8,500 settlers from the coastal strip.

They deemed this move capitulation to the Palestinian terror and would invite more violence.

"That is why I realized there is no other path to choose in order to reach the possibility of a sustainable settlement," Sharon said.

According to a Ha'aretz-Dialog poll published on Thursday, 47 percent of those asked said Sharon was their favorite candidate in the prime ministerial race.

Sharon quit Likud last month to capitalize on this general popularity buoyed by the Gaza pullout.

Sharon will lead his newly-formed Kadima party into the national elections set on March 28, 2006, which were advanced from originally scheduled November 2006 after the Labor party quit the coalition government under new leader Amir Peretz.

The Labor party joined Sharon's Likud-ruling government last January to push ahead the Gaza pullout, but the party ceased its cooperation with the government after Peretz, a trade union chief, was elected unexpectedly new party leader in the Nov. 7 party elections, ousting veteran politician Shimon Peres.

Source: Xinhua