Jerusalem ? Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday he wants to resume final peace talks with the Palestinians and take harsh action against Israeli squatters in the West Bank – a sign the election front-runner is ready for bold steps to end the conflict.

The new leader’s first policy statement carries special weight because of a widespread assumption among Israelis that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who suffered a devastating stroke Jan. 4, will never return to power and that Olmert will replace him. Hospital officials reported no change Tuesday in Sharon’s condition: critical, stable and comatose.

Olmert, a 60-year-old former mayor of Jerusalem and the vice premier under Sharon, has a commanding lead in the polls for the March 28 election, putting him in a strong position to begin carrying out Sharon’s vision of delineating Israel’s final borders.

But Sharon’s way was unilateral – he pulled Israel out of Gaza last summer with minimal coordination with the Palestinians, whom he viewed as unreliable negotiating partners.

A Palestinian man watches an Israeli border police officer reading a newspaper in the West Bank city of Hebron. Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that he hopes to resume peace talks with Palestinian leaders.

Flanked by reporters after meeting Israeli President Moshe Katsav, Olmert said that after parliamentary elections – the Palestinians vote Jan. 25 – “I hope … I can enter negotiations with Abu Mazen,” referring to Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas by his nickname.

The talks would be for “a permanent peace agreement between us and the Palestinians,” he said.

Olmert reiterated Sharon’s policy that any talks should be based on the internationally backed “road map” peace plan.