There was no immediate confirmation Channel 10 TV said from Peres?s aides. Channel 10 said Peres, attending an Israeli-Palestinian soccer match in Barcelona, conveyed his decision to one of its reporters accompanying him on the trip. The departure of the 82-year-old Peres from his long-time political home would represent a vote of confidence by the Nobel peace laureate in Sharon?s oft-repeated pledge to make ?painful concessions? for peace with the Palestinians.

Twice prime minister, but never elected to the position, Peres was visibly stunned earlier this month when firebrand trade union chief Amir Peretz ousted him as Labour Party leader in a primary election. Israeli media reports said Sharon would offer Peres the job of peace envoy if the new Kadima party won the March 28 poll. Sharon, in a gamble that could reshape Israeli politics for years to come, quit the Likud party last week, saying he could not push for peace with the Palestinians while ?wasting time? battling far-right rivals in the movement he co-founded in 1973.

Pull out of troops

At the same time, Sharon has reaffirmed a pledge to keep major Jewish settlement blocs in the occupied West Bank in any future peace treaty, a prospect Palestinians said would deny them a viable state. As Labour Party leader and Israel?s vice premier, Peres helped Sharon complete a unilateral pullout of troops and Jewish settlers in Gaza last September despite protests in the Likud that such a withdrawal only rewarded Palestinian violence. Reporting from Barcelona, Channel 10 correspondent Gilad Yadin said Peres had decided to bolt Labor, which ousted him as leader in a November 9 primary election, and ?embark on a new political path?.

Peres, he said, would announce his support for Sharon and Kadima on his return to Israel on Wednesday but would not become one of its members.Peres would also not run for parliament in the coming poll, the reporter said. Under Israeli law, that would not bar him from accepting a cabinet post. Speaking to reporters in Barcelona on Monday, Peres said he would announce his decision after his return home.

?In my eyes it?s not a problem of parties but a problem of peace ? how to create a strong coalition for peace,? Peres said. Peretz, an avowed socialist, took Labor out of the government, condemning what he called harsh economic policies that hurt Israel?s poor.

Jeffrey HELLER

BIOGRAPHY

Peres the Nobel prize winner

■ Shimon Peres (Labour), Minister of Foreign Affairs, was born in Poland in 1923 and immigrated with his family as a child. He studied at the Ben Shemen Agricultural School, and was one of the founders of Kibbutz Alumot in the Jordan Valley. In 1943, he was elected secretary of the Hano?ar Ha?oved youth. In Israel?s War of Independence, Peres was responsible for arms purchases and recruitment, and in 1948 was appointed head of the naval services. In 1949, he headed the Defense Ministry?s procurement delegation to the United States.

■ Peres was appointed Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Defense in 1952 and served as its Director-General between 1953-1959. Peres has been a Member of the Knesset since 1959 and served as Deputy Minister of Defense from 1959-1965. In 1965, he left the Mapai Labour Party with Ben-Gurion and became Secretary-General of Rafi. In 1968, he was instrumental in bringing Rafi back to Mapai to form the Israel Labour Party.

■ Peres became Minister of Immigrant Absorption in 1969 and served as Minister of Transport and Communications from 1970-1974. In 1974 he was appointed Minister of Information and later, Minister of Defense (1974-1977). The highlight of his tenure as Defense Minister was the Entebbe rescue operation. In 1977, Peres was elected chairman of the Labour Alignment. In 1984, a National Unity Government was formed, and he served first as its Prime Minister (1984-1986), and then as Vice Premier and Minister of Foreign Affairs (1986-1988). During his term as Prime Minister, Israel withdrew from Lebanon and an economic stabilization plan was implemented.

■ In 1978, Peres was elected Vice-President of the Socialist International. In the National Unity government (1988-1990), Shimon Peres served as Vice Premier and Minister of Finance. From 1990-1992, he led the opposition in the Knesset. Peres began his second tenure as Israel?s Minister of Foreign Affairs on July 13, 1992 with the establishment of the new, Labour-led government.

■ Shimon Peres has authoured the following books: The Next Step (1965); David?s Sling (1970); And Now Tomorrow (1978); From These Men (1979);Entebbe Diary (1991); The New Middle East (1993); Battling for Peace (1995). He has written hundreds of articles and essays. Shimon Peres is married to Sonya (nee Gelman); they have two sons and a daughter - and six grandchildren.