TEHRAN The Turkish police on Wednesday detained some 40 people protesting against Israel as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon held talks with Turkish leaders in Ankara.

Police took the protestors into custody after they refused to disperse.

They were shouting anti-Israeli slogans and they made a press statement against Israel and the United States at a public square in Bakirkoy District in the city's European side, the report said.

In a separate protest in capital, Ankara, members of some political parties and trade unions condemned Sharon for his hardline policies against the Palestinians.

The demonstrators, who converged in the downtown Kizilay Square, carried banners expressing support for the Palestinian people and urging Ankara to cancel all agreements with Israel, Anatolia said.

The protest ended peacefully after the demonstrators made a press statement criticizing the Ankara government for "giving privileged treatment to Sharon," it added.

The riot police on Tuesday detained 131 protestors who were gathering to demonstrate against Sharon's stance in the Mideast conflict.

The Iranian people will hold rallies on Friday (tomorrow) in support to Palestinians. Different organizations and officials in separate statements have expressed readiness to massively take part in the demonstrations against Israelis aggressive policies.

During a joint press conference with Sharon, the Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit told his Israeli counterpart Wednesday that Israel's demand for a total halt to violence as a condition for resuming peace talks with the Palestinians was "unrealistic," but Sharon remained unmoved.

"The demand for an absolute cessation of violence is unrealistic," Ecevit said.

Turkey, a mainly Muslim but non-Arab state, has been Israel's chief regional ally since 1996, when the two signed a military cooperation agreement that sparked harsh criticism from most of the Arab world and Iran.

"In our point of view, while fighting terrorism from one side, the peace process should be revived from the other," he added.

Ecevit made the remarks after talks with Sharon, who arrived in Ankara earlier for a one-day visit.

But the hardline Israeli leader categorically rejected any return to the negotiating table until a 10-month-old outbreak of bloodshed in the region comes to a complete halt.

He likened Israel's struggle against Palestinians to Turkey's combat of separatist Kurds.

The Turkish NTV television said Tuesday night that the Zionist prime minister's two-day visit to Ankara was cut short to an eight-hour visit.

The NTV said Sharon's bodyguards have been in Ankara since one month ago arranging security measures for the premier's visit.

Meanwhile, according to an AFP report, one Palestinian was killed in a car explosion in the Jordan valley, in the West Bank.

Israeli police fired at the man's car, exploding it, when he refused to stop at a road block checking traffic coming from Nablus, the Israeli military sources said Wednesday.

The Palestinian's death brings to 80 the number of people who have lost their lives since a U.S.-brokered cease-fire went into effect on June 13, including 60 Palestinians and 20 Israelis.

The Israeli Army also launched helicopter and anti-tank missile attacks against Palestinian police posts in the West Bank overnight.

Helicopters targeted several police posts in Salfit, while soldiers fired the anti-tank missiles at a police roadblock in Jericho.

"This was a fresh warning to make it clear that the Israeli Army will find the means to react to any aggression against civilians and soldiers," a military spokesman said.

According to Palestinian security officials, an Israeli helicopter fired four rockets at two buildings in Salfit of Palestinian military intelligence and the Force 17 elite guard of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The buildings were damaged but the attacks left no casualties, they said.

Another report said the Palestinian leader Arafat will try to overcome differences with political groups to create a united front against Israel, a top official said, as U.S. President George W. Bush defended his Middle East policy from mounting criticism.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said Arafat planned to hold a meeting over the "coming days" to try to establish a national dialogue among the diverse Palestinian groups after Israel vowed to continue killing Palestinian militants it deemed a security threat.