JERUSALEM, Nov. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon may offer Shimon Peres a future position as "special ambassador for peace affairs" if the former Labor head agrees to support Sharon's new Kadima faction, Israel Radio reported Monday.

   If Sharon were to win re-election, such an appointment would place Peres at the center of all regional and international contacts toward diplomatic progress toward peace with the Arabs, said the report.

   Sharon's senior adviser Uri Shani was said to have made the offer to Peres in a meeting last weekend.

   Senior politicians who spoke with Peres have said their impression was that he has decided to accept Sharon's offer. Peres is expected to announce a decision on leaving the party when he returns from a visit to Barcelona, Spain, on Wednesday.

   The Labor Party, meanwhile, is furious over Peres' negotiations with Sharon about the possibility of joining Sharon's Kadima party or, alternatively, backing the faction without joining.

   On Sunday night, Peres told reporters that he has not yet made any decision. "I haven't decided yet, when I make a decision, I'll announce it," he said.

   It was said that Peres is angry over what he claimed was ignored by new Labor Party Chairman Amir Peretz.

   Peretz, who realizes that Sharon's main goal in courting Peres is to undermine the new Labor chair, tried to mend matters on Sunday by phoning Peres to offer him the post of party president, which would be created especially for him and would include representing the party overseas.

   But Labor sources said Peres did not respond to the offer immediately, saying that he needed time to think. Enditem