Abbas, also known as Abu Mazen told a news conference that he does not object meeting and negotiating with Sharon "since he is elected by the Israeli people as the Prime Minister of Israel."

"We can't tell them (Israelis) we want to negotiate with someone else," said Abbas. However, he slammed Sharon's former statements which said that late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was not a peace partner.

"Dialogue and negotiations are the only road that would bring us to a solution. This is my understanding and this is what I believe in. If this does not happen, there will not be another solution," said Abu Mazen.

He rejected the Israeli statements saying that Israel wants to test if Abbas can be a partner, adding "the issue of testing me is not an Israeli business because we are elected by our people and there is no need to test my DNA as well."

"I can't promise you anything, but I would exert all my efforts to implement my program that I presented during my elections campaign," said Abu Mazen.

About 2 million Palestinians from the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem would head to the ballots on Sunday to choose their permanent leader, a successor to late Arafat. Seven candidates are running for the post.