LEAD IN:

Israel's Shimon Peres was widely admired around the world as a peacemaker and visionary, but opinions of him across the Arab world are much more complex.

Memories linger of another Peres, who built up Israel's military might, waged war in Lebanon and promoted policies seen as harmful to the Palestinians.

STORY LINE:

As tributes to Shimon Peres pour in across the West, in the southern Lebanese town of Qana the reaction to the former Israeli President's death is very different.

An Israeli military operation in Lebanon in 1996 included a deadly artillery strike on a UN compound in the village of Qana that killed dozens of civilians who had fled fighting to take refuge there.

Jamil Salami, a survivor of Qana bombardment, calls Peres a "war criminal."

The incident is a key part of Peres' legacy across the region. Announcing Peres' death on Wednesday, Iran's state television called him "The butcher of Qana."

In Tehran, student Mahdi Isazade says: "we are happy that he has finally died and gone to Hell. I think all Muslims and all Shiites who feel a responsibility to support the oppressed are happy and are celebrating."

Peres, two-time Israeli president and a Nobel prize winner, died on Wednesday at the age of 93.

In Ramallah, Mustafa Barghouti, General Secretary of the Palestine National Initiative, gives his perspective on Peres' complicated legacy.

"From one side, he looks moderate in comparison to extremists like (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and (Israeli Education Minister) Neftali Bennett. On the other hand, he was responsible for the settlement activities in Palestine, which is (are) now the biggest obstacle to achieving peace."

Meanwhile, Palestinians in Gaza have been celebrating the death.

"We, the Palestinians in Gaza and outside, are happy about the death of Israelis, especially the leaders who brought the Israeli occupation and seized our land. To the death of Shimon Peres, rest in Hell," says Local resident Shaban Al-Qerem.

Peres's funeral on Friday is expected to be the largest gathering of world leaders in Israel since the funeral of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995.

++AP Television is adhering to Iranian law that stipulates all media are banned from providing BBC Persian or VOA Persian any coverage from Iran, and under this law if any media violate this ban the Iranian authorities can immediately shut down that organisation in Tehran.++

Qana, Lebanon - 29 September 2016

++16:9++

1. Wide of traffic at entrance to Qana villlage

2. Close of Qana sign

3. Wide of survivor Jamil Salami visiting the massacre site

4. Debris at the site

5. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic), Jamil Salami, survivor of Qana bombardment:

"He (Shimon Peres) is a war criminal, he committed a massacre in Qana which was a United Nations post and it is internationally prohibited to approach it but he bombed this United Nations site and killed children, women and elders in Qana village and we can say that God has revenged the martyrs by his death."

FILE: Qana, South Lebanon - 18 April 1996

++4:3++

6. Various of injured people following Israeli forces' shelling of UN compound

Qana, Lebanon - 29 September 2016

++16:9++

7. Various of Qana massacre graves

8. Qana resident Ahmad Hasan Haidar standing next to the graves

9. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Ahmad Hasan Haidar, local resident:

"This criminal Shimon Peres was leading Operation 'Grapes of Wrath' and he killed the elders, women and children in Qana. We will never forget his crimes in Qana so today he is facing his punishment by God. We do not know what it will be, but we are pretty sure he will get the punishment that he deserves."

AP Television - NO ACCESS BBC PERSIAN/VOA PERSIAN/MANOTO ONE

Tehran, Iran - 29 September 2016

++AP Television is adhering to Iranian law that stipulates all media are banned from providing BBC Persian or VOA Persian any coverage from Iran, and under this law if any media violate this ban the Iranian authorities can immediately shut down that organisation in Tehran.++

++16:9++

10. Wide of Tehran's Milad tower and traffic

11. Mid of traffic

12. Various of mural with text that reads: (English) "Israel must be omitted from the world" (a quote from Iran's former leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini) and a drawing showing an Israeli tank and Palestinian children

13. Students talking outside Imam Sadegh university

14. SOUNDBITE: (Farsi) Mahdi Isazade, student:

"He (Shimon Peres) committed many crimes against the oppressed people of Palestine, and now we are happy that he has finally died and gone to Hell. I think all Muslims and all Shiites who feel a responsibility to support the oppressed are happy and are celebrating."

15. Mid of students

16. Wide of sign reading: "Head of Society for the Defence of Palestinian nation" in Farsi, Arabic, and English

17. Pan to Hossein Rooyvaran, Head of Society for the Defence of the Palestinian nation

18. SOUNDBITE: (Farsi) Head of Society for the Defence of the Palestinian nation:

"(Peres) won the Noble Peace Prize, that (peace) has not been realised, and the Zionist regime is still preventing the formation of any Palestinian government - by building settlements and following a policy of occupation through populating occupied lands."

19. Rooyvaran reading book

FILE: New York - 31 July 2006

++4:3++

20. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, Israeli Vice Premier:

"There must be a change in the whole situation of the Middle East. There must be a sustainable peace, a more profound arrangement that will answer the real problems."

21. Wide of Peres addressing news conference

Ramallah, West Bank - 29 September 2016

++16:9++

22. Various of Ramallah streets

23. Mustafa Barghouti, General Secretary of the Palestine National Initiative, sitting at his desk

24. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mustafa Barghouti ,General Secretary of the Palestine National Initiative

"For many people Shimon Peres was a controversial figure. From one side, he looks moderate in comparison to extremists like (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu and (Israeli Education Minister) Neftali Bennett. On the other hand, he was responsible for the settlement activities in Palestine, which is now the biggest obstacle to achieving peace. He was responsible, and the main architect of Oslo, which was an illusion of peace rather than peace. We lost an opportunity of creating real peace by ending occupation. What Israel needs today is a different generation - new people who believe in real peace, by ending the occupation which is now 50 years and by ending the system of apartheid that Palestinians are subjected to."

25. Traffic in Ramallah

AP Television

Gaza City, Gaza Strip - 29 September 2016

++16:9++

26. Group of women standing by side of road

27. Women walking

28. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Shaban Al-Qerem, local resident:

"We, the Palestinians in Gaza and outside, are happy about the death of Israelis, especially the leaders who brought the Israeli occupation and seized our land. To the death of Shimon Peres, rest in Hell. We say that the Israeli policies will remain unchanged and will not be affected by the passing of one of its leaders. Sharon and Rabin died before and the deals remained the same and the big loser was the Palestinian people."

29. Mid of university students walking

30. SOUNDBITE: (Arabic) Abdullah Mahani, student:

"Of course, his death is a relief to the Palestinian people because it's known that he killed innocent Palestinians and he was hostile to the Palestinians."

30. Palestinian students walking

Israeli politician Shimon Peres is set to leave the Labour Party, his political home for 60 years, according to party officials on Tuesday.

Peres, who lost the race for Labour leader earlier this month, is widely expected to join forces with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The political heavyweight would be a "star" catch for Sharon's newly formed Kadima party ahead of next year's March elections.

Sharon's associates said he was expected to be given a post in Sharon's government as minister for development of the outlying Negev and Galilee regions.

But Peres refused to be drawn, telling reporters at Barcelona's Nou Camp soccer stadium: "I said I shall decide tomorrow (Wednesday) night."

Peres was joined by Barcelona president Joan Laporta as he posed for photographers at the football stadium.

The actor Sean Connery, who was given a special "007" Barcelona strip, was also there to lend his support to the charity Football 4 Peace, which brings together mixed teams of Israelis and Palestinians players.

Peres was due to attend a charity match later between Barcelona and a team of Israelis and Palestinians.

AP TELEVISION

Barcelona, 29 November 2005

1. Wide shot of Barcelona Football Stadium

2. Mid shot of Barcelona Football Stadium

3. Mid shot of Shimon Peres arriving at field

4. Close up of Shimon Peres

5. Cutaway to stalls

6. SOUNDBITE: (Enlgish) Shimon Peres, Israeli Labour Party

Question: What are the prospects for the new political coalition between you and Ariel Sharon?

Answer: "I hope to achieve a majority for peace. I shall decide in a couple of days after I leave Barcelona, where I should breath its fresh air that will make me wiser. Then I should decide."

7. Cutaway to Barcelona Football Club shield

8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, Israeli Labour Party

"You cannot divide a country in accordance to the parties, you have to do it in accordance to the future. Is not the where you belong but where you go that you decide. At that point of view (Ariel) Sharon made the right decision."

9. Cutaway of press

10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, Israeli Labour Party

Question: What are the prospects for the future relations between Palestinians and Israelis?

Answer: " I think that we have improved, we are in a situation where everybody knows where will be the solution. If everybody knows, why postpone it?"

11. Mid shot of Barcelona's Football Club president Joan Laporta giving shirt to Shimon Peres

12. Mid shot of film star Sean Connery trying on Barcelona's shirt

13. Close of Sean Connery with shirt

14. Mid shot of Shimon Peres kicking balloon

15. Wide shot of field

English/Nat

XFA

Sounding resigned to electoral failure, elder statesman Shimon Peres said on Monday that his Labour Party should consider joining forces with Ariel Sharon, if the hawkish leader unseats Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Peres is also considering this if Sharon proves open to compromise with the Palestinians.

In an interview with A-P-T-N the former premier and Nobel laureate says if there will be a chance for the continuation of the peace process, he doesn't see any reason why not to have a national unity government.

Peres added, however, that Sharon's previous positions and his reported plans to offer the Palestinians no land beyond what they now control - about 42 percent of the West Bank and most of Gaza - was not a basis for achieving progress.

Sharon holds a commanding lead in all the polls ahead of Tuesday's election for prime minister.

Barak's short term was plagued by a divided parliament divided among small, sectorial factions and split almost evenly between hawks and doves.

Peres, a leading architect of the 1993 Oslo accords that began the peace process in earnest, criticized the Palestinian rejection of offers tabled by Barak at last July's Camp David summit in the United States and in subsequent talks.

Barak offered the Palestinians an independent state in some 95 percent of the West Bank and Gaza, including a share of Jerusalem and the dismantling of many Jewish settlements.

But they could not agree on how to share Jerusalem, and the Palestinians insisted on the right of millions of refugees to return to Israel.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"I think his (Barak) intentions were right. He couldn't have foreseen what the Palestinians would accept or retract, so he took a risk he went a very long way, but in fact the Palestinian side were late or blind to the offers."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Former Israeli Prime Minister

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"I think that if there will be a chance for the continuation of the peace process then I don't see any reason why not a national unity government. If it will be a government without a peace policy why have it in a united why. Why have it in a united way? Why have a united failure."

Q: Do you think that a peace policy might be possible with Mr Sharon?

"I really don't know, I can't speak on his behalf."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Former Israeli Prime Minister

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"Well either the world will have to change or Sharon will have to change. It cannot remain as it is. The polls are showing that the support for peace in Israel did not go down. 69 percent in the polls say they are for the continuation of the peace process. So I imagine that Sharon will have to draw conclusions."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Former Israeli Prime Minister

Jerusalem - 5 February 2001

1. Set up Peres

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, Former Israeli Prime Minister

3. Cutaway

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, Former Israeli Prime Minister

5. Cutaway

6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, Former Israeli Prime Minister

7. Peres leaving

Eng/French/Nat

The former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres has called for a new international body to help the Middle East peace process -- a kind of "political NATO".

He was speaking after a one-hour meeting with French President Jacques Chirac at the Elysee Palace in Paris.

Mr Peres also said there was an urgent need to clear up mistrust between the Israelis and the Palestinians over peace negotiations.

And in the wake of the Paris underground rail bomb last Tuesday evening, he issued a call for greater international co-operation against terrorism.

In the bright sunshine, the former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres arrived at the Elysee Palace Saturday morning.

He spent an hour inside the palace, meeting the French president, Jacques Chirac.

Mr Peres -- who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 along with the former Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin and the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat -- said that the meeting went very well.

He told reporters waiting outside that the mistrust between Israelis and Palestinians needed to be tackled for the peace process to continue.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"There is an air of mistrust which we have to get rid of, we cannot continue with the peace process without changing the climate."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, former Israeli prime minister

He stressed there must be a common policy and co-ordination between the American and European positions on the Middle East peace process.

SOUNDBITE: (English):

"What was done in the domain of economics should be done in the domain of diplomacy. Try to co-ordinate a common policy because it's unthinkable that in the morning that somebody from Europe comes and suggests a compromise and in the afternoon somebody from America arrives. It won't take a long time and you will find the Middle East negotiating between America and Europe instead of the Americans and the Europeans negotiating there.There is a precedent for this, I think what NATO used to do militarily you need today a political NATO."

SUPERCAPTION: Shimon Peres, former Israeli prime minister

And after the Paris bomb this week, he had a few timely words to say on tackling terrorism.

SOUNDBITE: (French)

"We must develop international co-ordination to stop the threat of terrorism which has increased in many places without end."

SUPERCAPTION: Shimon Peres, former Israeli prime minister

Later, he told reporters that he believed a deal between the Palestinians and Israelis on Hebron could be made within several days.

He added that the last stumbling blocks in the negotiations were purely technical.

Hebron is the last town in the West Bank still occupied by Israeli troops. Under accords signed by the Israelis and Palestinians, Israel was to hand over Hebron to the Palestinian authority several months ago.

Elysee Palace, Paris, France, December 7, 1996

1. Wide shot of Elysee Palace

2. Close up of palace

3. Wide shot of palace, zoom to Peres and entourage arriving

4. Peres and group enter palace

5. Mid shot of interior of palace, Peres sitting with Chirac

6. Close up of Peres

7. Close up of Chirac

8. Pull out to both seated

8. Peres out of palace

9. Cut away to photographers

10. Peres and entourage leaving palace

11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres

12. Cut away to reporters and photographers

13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres

14. Cut away to media

15. SOUNDBITE: (French) Shimon Peres

16. Peres and entourage leave the palace

English/Nat

Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres has appealed to President Assad of Syria to make peace.

Addressing a joint meeting of Congress in Washington, he said neither Israel or Syria should dwell on the past but should be prepared to compromise.

Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres is in the U-S to secure congressional support for his efforts to relaunch a peace initiative with Israel's old adversary Syria.

He met with congressional leaders before his congressional address.

When he arrived at the joint session of Congress he received a standing ovation, but deflected the honour to his fallen leader, Yitzhak Rabin who was assassinated in November.

SOUNDBITE:

Mr. Speaker, all I have, I would have given gladly not to be standing here today. My senior partner is gone. Now he belongs to the ages. He will enter them as a great leader, as a great soldier, a captain of peace who was assassinated because he was right.

SUPERCAPTION: Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister

He then took the opportunity to make his boldest appeal yet to Syrian President Hafez Assad.

He said the two countries should end decades of hostility to arrive at a comprehensive peace settlement.

SOUNDBITE:

I would like to use this podium, with your permission, ladies and gentlemen, to turn to President Assad of Syria and say to him, without forgetting the past, let us not look back. Let fingertips touch a new untested hope. Let each party yield to the other, each giving consideration to the respected needs of the other, mutually so, he to us, us to him.

SUPERCAPTION: Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister

Peres hinted again at Israel's willingness to make territorial compromises, but stopped short of specifying withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

Assad has made a commitment to that a prerequisite for talks.

But the overwhelming message of his speech was an apparently sincere desire for reconciliation.

SOUNDBITE:

The end of conflict, carrying the message to our forefathers and to our grandchildren, that we are again, all of us, the sons and daughters of Abraham, living in a tent of peace again.

SUPERCAPTION: Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres

His speech received unanimous approval among lawmakers.

Peres has also been trying to convince American Jewish leaders that his land for peace policy is right.

Washington D-C, USA. 12 December 1995

1. Peres with Dole and Gingrich

2. Peres walks in to Congress

3. SOUNDBITE: Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres

4. Cut-away Dole

5. Cut-away Christopher

6. SOUNDBITE: Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres

7. WS Congress

8. SOUNDBITE: Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres

9. Standing ovation

10. Gore and Gingrich shake Peres' hand

11. Wide shot applause.

RESTRICTION SUMMARY: AP CLIENTS ONLY

SHOTLIST:

AP TELEVISION NEWS - AP CLIENTS ONLY

Sheba Medical Centre, near Tel Aviv - 14 January 2016

1. Exterior of heart centre at Sheba Medical Centre

2. Security outside

3. Raphi Walden, personal physician to Israel's former president Shimon Peres, arriving to update media

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Raphi Walden, personal physician to Israel's former president, Shimon Peres:

"This morning (Israel's former) President (Shimon) Peres experienced some chest pain, nothing in the great degree of severity. Just to be on the safe side he was taken immediately to the hospital and here he was taken to the cardiac catheterisation suite where he underwent a cardiac catheterisation. One of the coronary arteries was found severely stenosed. It underwent a dilatation with a stent and his condition is stable now. He's very well and he is awake, he was awake all the time and he is only worried about the continuation of his schedule, and he is insisting on going on to do some of the schedule prepared for today. His condition is excellent now, and it's a very mild myocardial infarction and we expect him to stay in the hospital for a few days under our observation and then to carry on with his daily activities."

5. Cutaway of media

6. Exterior of Sheba Medical Centre

AP TELEVISION - AP CLIENTS ONLY

FILE: Tel Aviv - 13 October 2015

7. Various of former Israeli President Shimon Peres with Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders

8. Peres and leaders seated at meeting

9. SOUNDBITE (English) Shimon Peres, former Israeli President:

"Stop killing, stop bringing tragedies to families, to mothers, to children, to elders. We have and we can live together, respect each other and respect together the need for peace and coexistence."

10. Priest at meeting

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Shimon Peres, former Israeli President:

"I am very grateful that at a very short notice on a very sad day - today was a very sad day, many lives were lost - in a short call you came together, to say our depth, which is to pray to the lord to stop bloodshed."

12. Peres and leaders singing a song for peace

STORYLINE:

Israel's 92-year-old former President Shimon Peres suffered a "mild" heart attack on Thursday but was in "excellent" condition following a heart procedure, his personal physician said.

Peres was rushed to a hospital near Tel Aviv from his home on Thursday morning after he fell ill with chest pains and a check-up found an irregular heart rate, his spokeswoman Ayelet Frisch told Israeli Army Radio.

His personal physician, who is also his son-in-law, Raphi Walden, said Peres had a "mild myocardial infarction" but that "his condition is excellent" following a successful cardiac catheterisation.

Peres won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 following the signing of the Oslo peace accords with the Palestinians a year earlier, a prize he shared with Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who was later assassinated, and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The prize earned him his stature abroad as a revered statesman.

Peres completed his seven year term as president in 2014 and remains in the public eye.

He is still active through his non-governmental Peres Centre for Peace, which promotes coexistence between Arabs and Jews and peace and development in the Middle East.

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English/Nat

Prime Minister Shimon Peres has cast his vote in Israel's general election with indications suggesting that the race will be close.

Peres' rival - the leader of the right-wing Likud Party - Benjamin Netanyahu stands a good chance of unseating him in Israel's first direct election for the position of Prime Minister.

Heavy security surrounded the polling station.

Armed guards and a large police presence surrounded Shimon Peres as he set out to vote on Wednesday morning.

Though observers believe the result will be close, Peres was looking cheerful when he arrived at a Tel Aviv polling station.

After greeting the officials he walked to the polling booth to mark his ballot papers.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"I feel very well, I think it is a historic decision. I don't look upon it as a personal competition, neither as a confrontation between two parties but really a choice of the future. One road leads to peace, the other leads to settlements and these are in full contradiction. I hope the nation will decide for peace."

(Question) Outside this country, there are a lot of people saying that there will be no difference either if you win or if the opposition wins.

"Not a lot of people, very few people. Let's face it, most of the people do understand perfectly well what Israel is up to."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel

He saw a clear distinction between the two main parties in Israel.

SOUNDBITE:

(Question) How will the Middle East be tomorrow if you win or if you lose?

"The Middle East will go from war to peace, from the old politics of hatred to the new call for an economic goal. And instead of being a region of its leaders, it will become a region of its people."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel

Voting will continue all day.

Unofficial results are expected within hours but the final outcome may not be known for days.

Israel's smaller parties will battle for influence and position as the two big parties try to form part of a bigger governing coalition.

29 May 1995. Tel Aviv, Israel

1. Security Guard outside building

2. Cars emerge from security curtain

3. Peres arrives at polling station greets officials

4. Cutaway of media

5. Wide of polling station

6. Media pan to Peres walking to polling booth

7. Peres walks to voting box and votes

8. SOUNDBITE Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister

9. Wide shot of Peres

10. SOUNDBITE Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister

11. Peres walks out

English/Nat

Israeli leader Shimon Peres says there's been a great deal of progress in the peace talks with Syria, currently taking place in the U-S.

The Israeli Prime Minister voiced his optimism in London, where he's been meeting his British counterpart John Major.

Major congratulated Peres for the successful handling of the Palestinian elections and spoke of the close ties between Britain and Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres arrived at London's Downing Street on Wednesday to be greeted by the British Prime Minister John Major.

The two smiling leaders posed for pictures and shook hands before their talks.

Later they faced the media gathered in Downing Street.

SOUNDBITE:

"A word about the bilateral relations that exist between the United Kingdom and Israel. I cannot remember a time when relations were as close over a whole range of issues as they are at the present time. And I think a great deal of the credit for that goes to Prime Minister Rabin and Prime Minster Peres."

SUPER CAPTION: John Major British Prime Minister

Shimon Peres then addressed the subject of Israeli peace talks with Syria in Maryland.

SOUNDBITE:

"A great deal of progress was done the agenda is a very rich and complicated one but I am rather satisfied with the results of the meeting and I do not see any reason to become pessimistic but rather to maintain the optimism necessary for the negotiations."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres Israeli Prime Minister

As part of his two day visit to Britain, Peres will be addressing a group of legislators at the House of Commons.

London, 31st January 1996

1. External shot of 10 Downing Street

2. Car pulling up and Shimon Peres getting out

3. Shimon Peres and John Major greeting, shaking hands and going inside

4.Cutaway

5. Shimon Peres and John Major coming out and giving press conference

6. SOUNDBITE: John Major

7. Cutaway

8. SOUNDBITE: Shimon Peres

9. Final shot of crowd outside 10 Downing street

English/Nat

In what may be his last speech as Labour Party leader, a bitter and often emotional Shimon Peres on Tuesday attacked younger colleagues who want to remove him from power.

The former Israeli prime minister sparked an acrimonious showdown at an opposition Labour Party conference by demanding that he retain a key position in the party.

He will remain as party chairman until June, when a new leader will be chosen.

The person most likely to succeed him is former armed forces chief of staff Ehud Barak, who is seen as the Labour contender with the best chance of defeating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Peres, who as Labour leader lost four elections and tied one, has said he would not run for prime minister in the next election.

He became prime minister after Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995.

At issue during a Labour Party convention in Tel Aviv on Tuesday was a proposal to make Peres party president.

The position would be exclusively created for the former prime minister and Nobel Peace Prize laureate to ease his way into retirement after a public career of four decades.

Popular leadership contender Ehud Barak wants to keep the party presidency ceremonial, fearing that Peres would otherwise use the position to challenge the party's new leadership.

But Peres, the last active politician among Israel's founding fathers, has said he will not consider a role bereft of authority.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"We have a lot of respect for Shimon Peres, we think that he's one of the great leaders in the world, but we cannot accept the fact that two leaders will continue to be in the same party."

SUPER CAPTION: Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Barak supporter

Barak said granting any authority to a party president would weaken Labour.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"We have to organise in a way that will enable us to concentrate on the real struggle, which is against Likud, rather than within ourselves. And I am very confident that we will find a way to express our full respect, and in fact admiration to Shimon Peres, to

his addition and legacy to ask him to help us in this."

SUPER CAPTION: Ehud Barak, contender for Labour Party leadership

Israeli analysts said that Yossi Beilin, who also is seeking the party leadership, will probably win more votes as a result of the showdown between Barak and Peres.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"Shimon Peres apparently wants to have a hand on the wheel, even though he would no longer be the chairman. As the President, Ehud Barak thinks that he can be the only driver of Labour. And the party should decide today whether one driver or two drivers."

SUPER CAPTION: Dov Gilhar, political commentator

At the party conference, followers of Barak and Peres argued bitterly over whether the issue should come up for a vote on Tuesday.

Some accused Peres of trying to hang on to power after his time and hurting the party.

Tel Aviv, Israel - 13 May 1997

1. Former Israeli prime minister Shimon Peres being greeted by supporters at Labour convention at the Heichal Hatarbut hall

2. Peres walking onto stage at convention, being cheered by supporters

3. Wide shot convention stage

4. Ehud Barak arriving at convention surrounded by supporters

5. Barak walking into convention with supporters chanting "Who's coming? The next prime minister"

6. Peres speaking at podium

7. Barak supporters with pictures of Barak, pan to Barak

8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, Barak supporter

9. Barak speaking at podium, zoom out

10. SOUNDBITE: (English) Ehud Barak, contender for Labour Party leadership

11. Barak walking away

12. Set up shot political commentator Dov Gilhar

13. SOUNDBITE: (English) Dov Gilhar, political commentator

14. Close up Barak walking with supporters

15. Peres speaking at podium

16. Wide shot convention stage

English/Nat

Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres has urged Syria to put aside old grievances and join the quickening drive for peace in the Middle East.

Addressing a joint meeting of the U-S Congress, he said neither Israel nor Syria should dwell on the past, but should be prepared to compromise.

But answering journalists' questions, he again insisted Israel would not give up the Golan Heights until Syria committed to peace.

Shimon Peres was shoring up U-S Congressional support for his efforts to relaunch a peace initiative with Israel's old adversary, Syria.

And before a packed session of Congress, he made his boldest appeal yet to President Hafez Assad of Syria.

He told him their countries should end decades of hostility to make a comprehensive peace.

SOUNDBITE:

"I would like to use this podium, with your permission ladies and gentlemen, to turn to President Assad of Syria and say to him, without forgetting the past, let us not look back. Let fingertips touch a new untested hope. Let each party yield to the other, each giving consideration to the respected needs of the other, mutually so, he to us, us to him.

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister

Peres hinted again at Israel's willingness to make compromises over land, but stopped short of specifying withdrawal from the Golan Heights.

Assad has made a commitment to that a prerequisite for talks.

Syria broke off negotiations with Israel in Washington in June, objecting to an Israeli demand for a foothold on the Golan Heights to install security devices.

Although Peres' speech indicated a sincere desire for reconciliation, he reiterated at a later press conference that Israel would not make the crucial territorial concession until Syria indicated it was serious about peace.

SOUNDBITE:

"We are not ready to make a concession in order to discover that nothing serious has happened. The Golan Heights is the last mountain we have. We shall not negotiate it for skimmed milk. We really would like to see a real change in the situation."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister

Peres also focused attention on Iran.

He believes that country is the biggest obstacle to peace in the Middle East region.

SOUNDBITE:

"Iran is the greatest danger to the Arabs, to the Israelis, to the peace in the whole of the Middle East and outside the Middle East."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Israeli Prime Minister

He decried Iran as the major sponsor of worldwide terrorism and called on the U-S to renew efforts to deny Iran nuclear weapons capability.

Washington, 12 December 1995

1. Peres with Senate Majority leader Bob Dole and House Speaker Newt Gingrich

2. Peres walks in to Congress

3. SOUNDBITE Peres

4. Ovation

5. Gore and Gingrich shake Peres' hand

6. Applause.

7. Peres walks into press conference.

8. Cutaway

9. SOUNDBITE Peres

10. Press conference

11. Cutaway

12. SOUNDBITE Peres

13. Peres and journalists

14. Peres walks away

German/Eng/Nat

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres arrived in Munich Wednesday to attend an international forum on Germany's modern role in world politics.

Next month Europe celebrates the fiftieth anniversary of V-E Day, the day fighting ended in Europe. Wednesday conference focused on how Germany has rebuilt ties with it's former enemies.

Before attending the conference, Israel's Foreign Minister Shimon Peres held brief talks over lunch with Germany's Economic Minister Theo Waigel.

They discussed the future relationship of their countries.

SOUNDBITE:

I hope that Germany will play an important role in the peace process in the Middle East. Actually we already have a close relationship between Germany and Israel and I found the readiness on the part of our German friends to play an important role in bringing peace to the Middle East.

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister.

Peres spoke of the need for reconciliation.

SOUNDBITE:

The only way to compensate for the past is build a new future and that is what we are trying to do. We are not forgetting the past, trying to build a new future.

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister

Germany's Finance Minister Theo Waigel welcomed Peres to Munich.

SOUNDBITE:

It is a big honour for us that he is taking part in this forum sponsored by the Hanns Seidel Foundation and I am especially happy that this foundation is sponsoring projects in Israel, the Middle East and Gaza.

SUPER CAPTION: Theo Waigel, German Finance Minister

The forum called "Peace, Freedom, Reconciliation - A Half Century of German History" focused on Germany's relationships with it former enemies.

Discussions on the holocaust and the end of national socialism in Germany dominated the agenda of the forum.

Shimon Peres spoke on how to built a new alliance with Germany

Peres is expected to fly back to Israel on Thursday.

1. General shots of Munich

2. Hotel exterior.

3. Arrival of Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister.

4. Arrival of Theo Waigel, German Finance Minister

5. Peres and Waigel in hotel hallway.

6. SOUNDBITE: Peres

7. Cutaway

8. SOUNDBITE :Peres

9. Wide shot of Peres and Waigel.

10. SOUNDBITE: Waigel (German)

11. Handshake Peres and Waigel

12. Peres and Waigel walking down the street.

13. Interior where forum is taking place.

14. Sign with name of forum, "Peace, Freedom Reconciliation - A Half Century of German History" (In German)

15. Wide of panel.

16. Cutaway of audience.

17. Wide shot from back of hall.

English/Nat

Israel's foreign minister, Shimon Peres, has been pressing for continued US aid for his country during his visit to Washington.

He met the Republican leader of the Senate, Bob Dole, and the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Senator Jesse Helms - who's called for a review of American aid for Israel. .

With another round of peace talks in Washington planned for this weekend, Peres told APTV that the time has come for Syria to come to the negotiating table.

Bob Dole, leader of the U-S Senate, and Senator Jesse Helms, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, were among those Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres met on Capitol Hill yesterday (Tuesday).

Peres said that he believes Israel has made great progress in international relations - and hopes that Syria can now join the peace process.

SOUNDBITE:

"We have shown on three occasions that we are capable of making peace and making compromises - with the Egyptians, with the Jordanians and with the Palestinians. We are ready for the Syrians to do likewise - and they have to move. They should keep their opening position, we shall keep our opening position and let negotiations find a common ground."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister

SOUNDBITE: "But, I think Israel had better be very careful - the United States [should] be careful to. In evaluating, let's see what happens."

SUPER CAPTION: Senator Jesse Helms, Chairman, Senate Foreign Rights Committee

SOUNDBITE:

"We have to agree with the Palestinians about a second phase, we have to add economic content to the Jordanian agreement, we have to continue and build a new middle east, economically, politically and educationally. And that's what we're going to do."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister

It was on this optimistic note that Shimon Peres left the meeting.

With more peace talks scheduled to take place in Washington this weekend, Peres is counting on continuing U-S support.

1. Photocall: Peres with Bob Dole

2. Photocall: Peres with Jesse Helms

3. SOUNDBITE: Peres

4. SOUNDBITE: Helms

5. SOUNDBITE: Peres

6. Peres walks off

Former Israeli president Shimon Peres met French President Francois Hollande in Paris on Thursday, a day after a court announced that the Palestinian militant group Hamas would be removed from the EU list of terrorist organisations.

A European Union court in Luxembourg on Wednesday ordered that Hamas - which calls for the destruction of Israel - be taken off the list for procedural reasons, but said the bloc can maintain asset freezes on the group's members.

Hamas was put on the EU list as part of broader measures to fight terrorism in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks.

It won elections in 2006 and runs Gaza, and has long contested the classification.

Peres said he was "glad" that Hollande had told him the court decision would not change France's view on Hamas.

"I told the president (Hollande), we (Israel) are for a Palestinian state. That's not an argument between us. We think that in order to have a democratic and Jewish state, we need a Palestinian state as well," Peres also stated.

The decision comes amid growing pressure from European legislators to recognise a Palestinian state, after years of stalemate in peace talks.

There was also growing frustration in Europe with Israel's government after the Gaza war earlier this year.

AP TELEVISION

Paris - 18 December 2014

1. Former Israeli president Shimon Peres getting out of car, being greeted by French President Francois Hollande

2. Peres and Hollande walking up steps to Elysee Palace

3. Peres and Hollande posing for photographers and entering palace

4. Various of the meeting between Peres and Hollande

5. Peres walking into room to address media

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Shimon Peres, former Israeli president:

"There is the problem of now if to bring the recognition of a Palestinian state to the United Nations. I told the (French) president, we are for a Palestinian state. That's not an argument between us. We think that in order to have a democratic and Jewish state, we need a Palestinian state as well. We weren't born to govern other people and you can be democratic only if you have a majority of people. Declarations cannot satisfy democracy itself. The only problem is how to achieve the establishment of two states, an Israeli state and a Jewish state (he means a Palestinian state). I believe the only way to do it is through negotiations. You cannot impose it."

7. Camera operators

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Shimon Peres, former Israeli president:

"As you know, the court decided for procedural reasons that Hamas should be out of the black list. I don't want to argue with the judges because I think in case of terror, the victims should judge and not the judges should judge the victims. So that's our view, although I was glad that president (Hollande) said 'I don't want to intervene in the procedures of the court, but that does not affect or change the position and the view of France concerning Hamas'."

9. Peres leaving

SHOTLIST:

++AUDIO AS INCOMING++

1. Wide of Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres at Washington Institute for Near East Policy

2. SOUNDBITE (English) Shimon Peres, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister:

"If the European Community, the United States, the Quartet, thinks that the international force can help, okay. What we shall not permit is that Hezbollah will return to the southern border of Lebanon and again continue to fire against Israel, take hostages, but we shall not consider an end of the fire if they continue to send rockets and missiles, we shall continue to act in order to bring back the two soldiers that were taken hostage on our land."

3. Wide of Peres speaking

4. Medium of Peres walking to microphones outside U.S. State Department; pull to wide shot

5. SOUNDBITE (English) Shimon Peres, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister:

"The minute it will stop it will stop, but the minute there will be an international force that will control the southern part of Lebanon and the hostages will be released and the rockets and the missiles will be controlled and the Hezbollah will stop being an army within an army, then we shall have peace. In my judgment it's not far away. You can count it in matters of weeks, not months."

6. Cutaway camera; pan right to wide shot Peres speaking, then walking away from microphones

7. Wide shot Peres walking to microphones at the White House

8. SOUNDBITE (English) Shimon Peres, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister:

"A cease-fire means to cease the fire, a cease-fire... (Off-screen reporter: What has to happen before that happens?) To have a force that will guarantee it, that cannot be dependent upon the whims of the Hezbollah every moment, so we won't have an international force, we won't have the Lebanese army, the Lebanese are an army of 80,000 people, this is the first country where we have an army that doesn't fight for the safety of its own land."

9. Medium of Peres walking away

STORYLINE:

Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres met with a wide range of Washington officials on Tuesday, vowing to clear southern Lebanon of Hezbollah militia and their weapons.

In a speech to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Peres gave qualified endorsement to an international security force.

"If the European Community, the United States, the Quartet, thinks that the international force can help, okay," he said.

However, he noted that Israel will not allow Hezbollah to continue to assault Israel from southern Lebanon.

Later, Peres met with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and told reporters afterwards that Israel was nearing a decisive point in battling Hezbollah.

Asked how long the fighting might go on, Peres said: "I don't want to say but it's a matter of weeks. Maybe even less."

Peres also met with U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley at the White House, and afterwards told reporters that a cease-fire would not occur without an international force that has the backing to secure the peace, rather than being "dependent upon the whims of the Hezbollah."

He said Israel had destroyed 70 to 80 per cent of Hezbollah's long-range missiles and rockets, although he conceded that Hezbollah still had short-range weapons.

He said Israel also had killed 250 to 300 of Hezbollah's 2,500 fighters.

While there is wide disagreement over whether to try to compel Israel to accept an immediate cease-fire, there is consensus building around a peacekeeping force that would be more potent than the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) that was created in 1978 with a weak mandate.

The Bush administration views a new force as a useful device in helping Lebanon gain control of its southern region, from which Hezbollah has fought a cross-border war with Israel.

President Bush is pressing for a U.N. resolution linking a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah with a broader plan for peace in the Middle East, despite rising international pressure for a simple no-strings-attached halt to the fighting.

English/Nat

Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres says current peace negotiations between Israel and Syria are a golden chance to find a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

Peres, at the end of a two day visit to Britain, acknowledged there's little time to make a deal with Syria before the October 29 deadline for Israeli elections.

He also spoke about the future of Jerusalem.

Speaking at a news conference in London on Thursday, Shimon Peres described his vision for the future of Jerusalem.

SOUNDBITE:

Jerusalem will remain religiously open and politically closed. In order to make Jerusalem open to all believers we don't have to cut the city in parts - we don't have to make Jerusalem into a sort of a Berlin.

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel

Peres was, however, optimistic on the outcome of peace negotiations with Syria.

SOUNDBITE:

I think it is only a matter of time before we shall have peace with Syria and Lebanon.

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel

He added that Yitzhak Rabin's assassination has been a great loss to him personally and Israel as a whole.

SOUNDBITE:

Well you know what I have learned after the assassination is that two people are so many and one person is so little. Clearly when we were the two of us we could have worked together much more assuringly. Rabin was leading and I was participating and we worked in a most agreeable conditions.

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Prime Minister of Israel

Time is running out to deal with Syria, but Peres said he believed Israeli voters will accept ceding the Golan Heights - Syria's main demand - if there is a secure deal over the frontiers between the two countries and protection of water supplies.

London, United Kingdom, 1 February 1996

1. Peres arrives to presser

2. SOUNDBITE: Peres

3. Cutaway press

4. SOUNDBITE: Peres

5. Cutaway press

6. SOUNDBITE: Peres

7. MS presser

8. WS presser

9. Peres leaves presser

English/Nat

Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres said on Tuesday that it is time for both Israelis and Palestinians to stop the shooting and to start talking.

Peres said that it is agreed with the two sides that written agreements must be fulfilled, and he hopes that after Ariel Sharon's visit to the US the violence will stop and negotiations will resume.

Meanwhile in the Knesset, army chief of staff Shaul Mofaz briefed the foreign defence committee on the latest developments in the West Bank and Gaza.

At least seven Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers were wounded in a series of overnight shootings in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Mofaz briefed the committee on the night's events, which took place despite the resumption of security contacts between the two sides.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was scheduled to meet later Tuesday with U-S President George W. Bush in Washington, said on Sunday that senior Israeli and Palestinian security officials were meeting in a bid to reduce nearly six months of fighting.

However, renewed violence that lasted into the early hours of Tuesday morning has included the most serious attacks against Israeli targets since Sharon came to power two weeks ago.

In violence on Monday, Palestinian attackers killed a Jewish motorist in a drive-by shooting and, in a separate incident, an Israeli security officer was killed at a kibbutz, where 60 automatic rifles were stolen.

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"Instead of talking there is shooting. I think the sooner the shooting will stop the talking will begin will the better for the two sides"

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Israeli foreign minister

SOUNDBITE: (English)

"In the guiding lines of the present government there is an article that says that Israel will respect all the agreements that were achieved and signed between the two sides provided they are respected by the two sides. I don't suggest that one sided implementation but those are binding agreements and they should be implemented by all parties."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Israeli foreign minister

Jerusalem, 20 march 2001

1. Cutaway

2. Shimon Peres, Israeli foreign minister walking

3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, Israeli foreign minister

4. Cutaway

5. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, Israeli foreign minister

6. Peres walking away

The Knesset

7. Shaul Mofaz, Israeli army chief of staff walking

8. Mofaz entering room of foreign defence committee

9. Long shot committee sitting

10. Close Mofaz sitting

11. Various of committee meeting

Eng/Spanish/Nat

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres has visited Argentina amid continuing fears that Islamic extremists may be planning terror attacks against Israeli targets in the country.

Peres' visit Friday comes a day after an Argentine judge ordered the arrest of a second suspect in connection with a bomb which killed 95 people at a Jewish Community Centre in Buenos Aires last July.

Despite reports that the Israelis fear further attacks against Jewish targets in Argentina, Peres' meeting with President Carlos Menem was clearly cordial.

In an impromptu move before Peres took the podium, Menem called Spanish President Felipe Gonzalez to express Argentine solidarity with him as his government faces charges of supporting a dirty war against Basque terrorists.

SOUNDBITE:

"That's what I was calling you for. To send you my wholehearted solidarity and to invite you to visit me in Argentina. I know you are going to sort this problem out very quickly. I'm here with the Israeli Foreign Minister at my side. He sends his best regards and wishes you the same."

SUPER CAPTION: Carlos Menem, President of Argentina

Peres advised Argentina to keep its nerve in dealing with suspected Islamic terrorists responsible for two major attacks on Jewish targets in Argentina.

SOUNDBITE:

"You know that I am an old client in the business of terror. And may I say two things. Clearly terrorism carries a certain danger. The greatest danger is to exaggerate terrorists' strength. They are not as perfect as they claim. And they are not as immune as other people may think."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister

An estimated 95 people died and more than 200 were injured in a July bombing attack on the Argentine Jewish Mutual Association (AMIA). A bombing in March 1992 destroyed the Israeli Embassy, killing approximately 29.

Menem made a recent trip to Syria to add his weight to the current Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

Peres applauded the Argentine president for his concern with Middle Eastern matters.

SOUNDBITE:

"He is showing a deep interest. He is trying to be of help. And I do hope that this will remain the case in the future."

SUPER CAPTION: Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister

Argentineans have a very real interest in the success of the Middle East peace process.

They hope that lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians will mean an end to the bombings that have caused so much pain to their own large Jewish population.

1. Shimon Peres arrives with Carlos Menem

2. Press photographers

3. W/s of Peres and Menem, zoom in to handshake

4. Pressmen

5. SOT: Menem talking on telephone to Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez

6. Peres walks to podium

7. SOT: Peres

8. Destruction to AMIA centre in Buenos Aires

9. Mourners at AMIA centre

10. Lighting candles

11. SOT: Peres

12. Mourners at AMIA centre

SHOTLIST:

1. Shimon Peres and Russian Foreign minister Igor Ivanov enter the hall

2. Media

3. Pull out from talks around table

4. Peres

5. Pan of the talks

6. Russian Foreign ministry emblem

7. Peres and Ivanov come out for press conference

8. Media

9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister (with Russian translation): "The Mitchell document creates an opportunity for peace negotiations. The document proposes the sequence of actions which is accepted by us. And with crystallisation of the world public opinion and others concerned we could back to peace negotiations"

10. Media

11. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Igor Ivanov, Russian Foreign Minister: "Russia is ready to support any initiative accepted by the Israeli and Palestinian sides that would lead to cessation of violence and restarting the peace process"

12. Pan press conference

13. SOUNDBITE (English) Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister: "We asked the Palestinian authorities, first of all, to discipline their forces because some of the Palestinian forces participate in the shooting and the killing."

14. Kremlin exteriors

15. Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Peres

16. Media cutaway

17. Wide shot talks at table

18. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) Vladimir Putin, Russian President: "We are especially happy to see you here, the man who is known in our country and in the whole world as a man who wants to bring peace to the Middle East and has done a lot personally to bring it about."

19. Wide shot talks

20. Peres

21. Wide shot talks

22. Media

23. Kremlin exteriors

STORYLINE:

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, who is visiting Moscow, has defended the latest Israeli raids against Palestinian targets, saying they were aimed against a mortar factory in particular and terrorism in general.

In a bid to lobby Russian officials for support, Peres met with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and the patriarch of Russia's Orthodox Church, Alexy II.

At the start of Peres' talks with the Russian president in the Kremlin, Putin expressed concern about Russian visitors to Israel caught in violence, and urged peace negotiations.

Speaking at the press conference after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Igor Ivanov, Peres praised the proposals put forward by an international commission headed by former U-S Senator George Mitchell to end almost eight months of violence.

Peres urged Russia and the United States to join their efforts as co-sponsors of the Mideast peace process to encourage face-to-face talks between the Israelis and Palestinians.

In turn, Ivanov said that Russia is ready to support any political initiative helping to establish peace in the Middle East.

Russia has played a small role in the Mideast peace process, compared with the United States.

Moscow has developed friendly relations with Israel after decades of animosity, but has largely lost its former clout with the Palestinians and other Soviet-era allies in the Arab world.

Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto on Wednesday officially welcomed Israel's president, who is visiting the country for six days.

Shimon Peres attended a ceremony at the Los Pinos presidential residence in Mexico City on the second day of his trip.

The aim of Peres' visit is to strengthen and broaden diplomatic, economic and cultural ties between the two countries.

During a joint news conference, Peres said he was "very glad" that peace negotiations with Palestinians had resumed.

"And we believe that we are really determined to wind it up," he said.

Peres added: "The Middle East will prosper if we embrace the potential of the new age."

"Right now the region is going through a transitional period. Transition is not a happy experience, but it is also an opportunity."

During his stay, Peres will also take part in the first Israel-Mexico Business Conference, which he will open with Pena Nieto and Carlos Slim, the richest man in Mexico, local media reported.

Peres will also visit the Mexican Senate, where he will hold a meeting with a committee and take part in the opening of a session.

AP TELEVISION

1. Tracking shot of Israeli President Shimon Peres walking with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto at official welcoming ceremony at Los Pinos presidential residence

2. Various of Peres and Pena Nieto

3. Cutaway of media

4. Mid of Pena Nieto introducing members of his administration to Peres

5. Various of Pena Nieto and Peres walking past honour guard

6. Wide of Peres and Pena Nieto at joint news conference

7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, President of Israel:

"And now, we are very glad that peace negotiations were restored between us and the Palestinians. And we believe that we are really determined to wind it up."

8. Cutaway of cameraman

9. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, President of Israel:

"The Middle East will prosper if it will embrace the potential of the new age. Right now the region is going through a transitional period. Transition is not a happy experience, but it is also an opportunity."

10. Wide of Peres and Pena Nieto shaking hands

11. Mid of audience

12. Mid of Peres and Pena Nieto signing documents and exchanging them, applause

SHOTLIST:

1. Mid view of Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres arriving at U.S. State Department.

2. Mid view of people at State Department.

3. Wide view of U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and Peres outside State Department.

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister. "Israel is determined to bring an end to the violence and to bring a beginning to peace. Actually we would like to stop violence as soon as possible because we are interested to start negotiation at the earliest possible date. We see eye to eye with the American position. Standing against terror by anybody, not just the Palestinians. We are not fighting the Palestinians we are fighting terror."

5. Mid view of U.S. and Israeli officials.

6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister. "We have to learn from our own mistakes. Previously we put too much attention to the print and too little attention to the deeds. This time we have to emphasize the implementation, not just the definition of words. And then we told the Jordanians and the Palestinians that we are seriously and sincerely anxious to reenter the negotiation, provided the bombing and the shooting and the fire will stop."

7. Mid view of people at State Department.

8. SOUNDBITE: (English) Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State. "We have security coordination going on between the two sides at several levels hosted by the United States. And I think once the violence level goes down more will be forthcoming from the Israeli side."

9. Wide view of Powell and Peres.

10. Mid view of people listenting to Powell and Peres.

11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Shimon Peres, Israeli Foreign Minister. "They know that once the violence will stop the negotiations will be started. And then we have announced unilaterally that we are going to change our policies on the West Bank to enable people to return to normal life to facilitate their economy, their social life. We don't want to the Palestinians suffer unduly because of terror."

12. Close view of Powell and Peres

STORYLINE:

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres offered the Palestinians hopes for concessions and an overall peace accord during talks with the Bush administration this week in Washington.

Peres' meetings with Secretary of State Colin Powell on Wednesday and President George W. Bush on Thursday could set the stage for a resumption of negotiations provided seven months of violence ends.

Peres also said Israeli officials were moving to ease restrictions for Palestinian movements in the West Bank.

Peres is the architect of agreements with the Palestinians that have given them control of 40 percent of the West Bank and most of Gaza.

Before and after his meeting with Powell, he took a dovish stance on virtually all fronts.

He says Israel is ready to make compromises once negotiations with the Palestinians are resumed.

His comments on demands for an end to violence echo those of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon this week.

And US Secretary of State Colin Powell also echoed the view that all violence must end before a renewal of peace talks could take place.

The Peres visit to Washington comes after recent meetings with officials from Jordan and Egypt, as leaders in the region are looking for ways to ease tensions.

The Qatari Foreign Minister, Hamad bin Jasim al Thani, also said he was meeting in Washington with Peres, hoping to encourage a return to the peace track.