Yasser Arafat, besieged by Israeli tanks and under U.S. pressure to rein in militants, pledged in remarks published Sunday to put an end to attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinians he described as terrorists.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Yasser Arafat, besieged by Israeli tanks and under U.S. pressure to rein in militants, pledged in remarks published Sunday to put an end to attacks on Israeli civilians by Palestinians he described as terrorists.

The statement by the Palestinian leader was released ahead of talks in Washington on Feb. 7 between Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Bush, who has said he was ''disappointed'' with Arafat's handling of militants.

Commenting on Arafat's article in The New York Times, Sharon again called him irrelevant and told Israel's Channel Two Television that he was unswayed by his words.

Sharon has said he would urge Bush to sever ties with Arafat, blamed by Israel and the United States for an alleged attempt to smuggle Iranian arms into Gaza on a ship seized by Israel last month. Arafat has denied any link with the vessel.

Outlining what he called a ``Palestinian vision'' in an opinion piece in The New York Times, Arafat said 16 months into a Palestinian uprising against Israeli occupation: ''Palestinians are ready to end the conflict.

``We are ready to sit down now with any Israeli leader, regardless of his history, to negotiate freedom for the Palestinians, a complete end of the occupation, security for Israel and creative solutions to the plight of the (Palestinian) refugees while respecting Israel's demographic concerns.''

Arafat said in the newspaper article: ``I condemn the attacks carried out by terrorist groups against Israeli civilians.

``These groups do not represent the Palestinian people or their legitimate aspirations for freedom. They are terrorist organizations and I am determined to put an end to their activities.''

Sharon, in his Channel Two interview, signaled he wanted deeds and not words from Arafat.

``He talks incessantly. Certainly the comments were written in softer language, but he is excellent when it comes to talking,'' Sharon said.

Asked if he found Arafat's article persuasive, Sharon replied: ``It didn't persuade me and I propose no one else be persuaded.''

Bush's national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said in Washington Sunday that the United States had not yet seen a ''100 percent effort'' from Arafat to curb attacks against Israelis.

VIOLENCE AND DIPLOMACY

A three-week lull in violence ended last month with a Palestinian attack in which four Israeli soldiers died and Israel's killing of a leader of the Fatah-linked al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades.

A wave of shooting and bombing attacks in Israeli cities ensued.

Sharon said in published remarks last week that Israel should have killed Arafat when its army had him under siege in Beirut in 1982. The Israeli leader later said he had no intention of harming Arafat now.

But amid the violence, signs have emerged over the past several days of new dialogue between the two sides.

Officials announced Friday that Sharon had held his first face-to-face talks with the Palestinian leadership Wednesday, meeting parliamentary speaker Ahmed Korei, Arafat's unofficial deputy Mahmoud Abbas and Mohammed Rashid, an economic adviser.

Israeli officials said Sharon asked them to convey a message to Arafat to crack down on anti-Israeli violence and arrest militants.

Sharon told Channel Two he and the three Palestinians would meet again after he returned from Washington.

Israeli and Palestinian security chiefs met Friday, renewing contacts severed after U.S. Middle East envoy Anthony Zinni left the region empty-handed early last month.

Israeli commentators speculated that Sharon had given the green light for the meetings to show Bush he was looking beyond mere crisis management and searching for a path toward renewed peacemaking.

Sharon has refused to meet Arafat. He said Israeli tanks would continue to ring Arafat's West Bank headquarters until the Palestinian leader arrested militants behind the October killing of an Israeli cabinet minister.