Early Israeli vote could freeze peace process -UN

"During this election period, maybe there are certain proposals or issues that cannot be pushed, and things are going to be at a standstill for a while," Annan said when asked about the impact on the peace process of Sharon's move.

"I hope that these elections will go smoothly and we can get back to pressing the parties on the peace process," he told reporters.

The United Nations is part of the Middle East quartet of international mediators that have laid out a road map to Palestinian statehood and peace in the region. The others in the quartet are the United States, the European Union and Russia.

But progress on the road map will be difficult during an election campaign as Palestinians could hold out during any negotiations in hopes of Sharon's defeat and an offer of more favorable terms from his successor.

Sharon quit his right-wing Likud party on Monday, hours after asking President Moshe Katsav to dissolve parliament and order early elections in a gamble that he could do better leading a new centrist party.

Sharon said the new party -- so far unnamed -- would aim for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. But he ruled out more unilateral withdrawals from occupied land after his Gaza Strip pullout, which sparked a rebellion in Likud's ranks.

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