Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, Feb 8, SPA -- With their flags whipping inthe wind, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas met face-to-face at a Mideast summit Tuesday to announce an end to four years of violence and offer goodwill gestures they hope will start a new era of peace talks. Sharon and Abbas smiled broadly as they leaned across along white table to shake hands as they met for the firsttime since Abbas succeeded Yasser Arafat after his Novemberdeath. An invitation to both sides to meet separately with U.S.President George W. Bush at the White House this springadded another round of momentum on the summit's eve. "Israel is willing to go very far and we're going tointroduce today a package of confidence-building measures,incentives, to the Palestinians so that they could startthis long journey on the road to peace," said RaananGissin, a top Sharon adviser. "But there's one thing thatmust be made very clear ... there will be no flexibilitywhatsoever, no compromise whatsoever on fightingterrorism." Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called the summit a"beginning" and said talks might continue in Israel assoon as Wednesday. "We're determined to exert every possible effort tomaintain this," Erekat said. The cease-fire agreement to be announced later Tuesdaywill not be a formal written document, but instead a verbaldeclaration by each side to halt violence, said GideonMeir, a senior official in the Israeli Foreign Ministry. AnEgyptian official familiar with the deal confirmed that. Abbas will declare an end to violence against Israelis,and Sharon will declare an end to Israeli militaryoperations, Meir said.--SPA1508 Local Time 1208 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/237843