Israel's Livni calls for early election

Occupied Jerusalem: Israeli ruling party leader Tzipi Livni said on Sunday she would recommend holding an early parliamentary election following her failure to form a new coalition to replace the outgoing government of Ehud Olmert.

"When I had to decide between continued extortion and bringing forward elections, I prefered elections," she was quoted as saying by Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.

Livni took the leadership of the ruling Kadima party last month after Olmert said he would resign as prime minister following a corruption inquiry. She still has a further week of a presidential mandate to form a government.

However, she told Maariv daily the negotiations were over: "I will not let them extort me. We will go to elections."

The main obstacle to largely renewing the coalition that has supported Olmert was a refusal of the Jewish religious Shas party to follow Livni.

It had sought guarantees she would not agree to share control of Occupied Jerusalem with the Palestinians and also wanted higher welfare benefits for its poor constituency.

A vote would most likely be held in late January or February, commentators say, more than a year ahead of schedule.

"I'm not here to survive, I'm here to lead," Livni told Maariv, ruling out her other option of trying to run the country with a government that lacked a strong parliamentary majority.

"You can't extort me," she told Yedioth. "The good of the country is at the top of my agenda."