Former Maine Sen. George Mitchell on Monday urged Israeli and Palestinian leaders to end the violence that has plagued the region for nine months

Speaking in Washington at a National Press Club luncheon to about 75 reporters, Mitchell compared the tensions in the Middle East to the longstanding religious and political hostilities in Northern Ireland, where he brokered a peace accord.

His comments came on the eve of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s visit to the White House and Secretary of State Colin Powell’s trip to the Middle East.

“There has been an almost indescribable amount of grief and sorrow,” Mitchell said. “We can play an important, perhaps even decisive role, in bringing to an end these conflicts of long standing and save untold numbers of lives in the future.”

Mitchell headed a five-member international committee that last month proposed steps for Israeli and Palestinian leaders to get back to negotiations, including ending attacks on each other, rebuilding trust and resuming peace talks.

Despite a change in administrations, Powell is using those recommendations as his roadmap in the troubled region to which he headed Tuesday, the same day Sharon met President Bush at the White House.

Former New Hampshire Sen. Warren Rudman, who served on the committee with Mitchell, joked that former President Clinton chose the two New Englanders because something in the water made them stubborn enough to tackle the task.

Mitchell was Democratic majority leader in the early 1990s while Rudman was a Republican senator.

“I learned why it was he was so effective in thwarting the will of Republicans when he was majority leader,” Rudman said. “Now at least he’s using it for something worthwhile.”

The report from the Mitchell committee was released May 21 and has been endorsed by the U.S. government, the European Union and the United Nations secretary general.