DATE=9/30/2002

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-294663

TITLE=SHARON / RUSSIA (S UPDATE)

BYLINE=LISA MCADAMS

DATELINE=MOSCOW

CONTENT=

/// FIXING 2-294661, GRAF 2 OF TEXT, TO SAY "PRIME MINISTER" ///

INTRO: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is in Moscow for talks expected to focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. V-O-A's Lisa McAdams reports from Moscow.

TEXT: The Israeli prime minister arrived in Moscow Sunday for two-days of talks with Russian officials.

Mr. Sharon is scheduled to meet President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin. Later, he is to hold private talks with Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov and the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Alexy the Second.

The Sharon-Putin talks are expected to explore options for reaching an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement, as well as the possibility of U-S-led military action against Iraq.

Officials say Mr. Sharon will also raise the issue of rising anti-Semitism in Russia, which President Putin has already condemned. (SIGNED)

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