Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Tuesday he would welcome a meeting with new Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. Abu Mazen, took office last week as part of U.S.-led efforts to loosen Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's grip on power. With Washington's 'blessing', Sharon has shunned Arafat, accusing him of fomenting violence in a 31-month-old Palestinian uprising. Arafat denies the charge. "I would be happy to meet with Abu Mazen," Sharon told Israel Radio in an 'Independence Day' interview. On Monday, Israeli political sources said Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz planned to meet Abbas next week after a regional visit by Secretary of State Colin Powell. Powell is expected to arrive in Israel on Saturday to push forward a "road map" to peace, backed by the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. Sharon told Israel Radio any contacts with Abbas would be independent of the mission. "I do not think this issue is linked to the secretary of state's visit," Sharon said. The road map envisages a Palestinian state by 2005 and calls for a halt to Jewish settlement expansion in the West Bank and Gaza, territories Israel occupied in the 1967 Middle East war. **PHOTO CAPTION*** An Israeli man lights a memorial candle at the Mount of Olives cemetery in occupied Jerusalem, Tuesday, May 6, 2003. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)