Israeli government contemplates killing Arafat
Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Sunday that killing Yasser Arafat was a real alternative to exiling the Palestinian Authority President.
Mr Olmert told Israeli radio that Ariel Sharon’s government was determined to punish the perpetrators of terror and Arafat was on its hit-list.
“We are trying to eliminate all the heads of terror, and Arafat is one of the heads of terror,” said Mr Olmert.
“Arafat can no longer be a factor in what happens here. Expulsion is certainly one of the options, killing is also one of the options.”
In less extreme tones, Mr Olmert said closing off Arafat in “prison-like conditions” at the veteran leader’s Ramallah compound was another option under consideration.
Last Thursday, Israel’s Security Cabinet voiced its intention to “remove” Arafat. Arafat is perceived by Israel and Washington as a terrorist and the “absolute obstacle” to peace in the region.
But US Secretary of State Colin Powell warned that ousting Arafat in the short term would wreck the “road map” for peace in the Middle East and provoke “rage throughout the Arab world.”
Mr Powell said Sunday: “The United States does not support either the elimination of him or the exile of Mr. Arafat.”
Arafat’s sizeable contingent of supporters across the West Bank and Gaza Strip took to the streets Sunday vowing to protect their beleaguered leader.
About 5,000 Palestinians in the Rashidiyeh refugee camp in southern Lebanon demonstrated to support Arafat.
Separately, Israeli soldiers on Sunday shot dead a 14-year-old Palestinian after he and others entered an unused airfield between Jerusalem and the West Bank.
