Israel to consider US views before removing Arafat

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in an interview yesterday Israel would take US objections into account before deciding whether to carry out its threat to "remove" Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.

Sharon made his comments to the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper before high-level representatives of the United States, Russia, the European Union and United Nations met in New York to discuss issues including three years of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

In a march which underlined how slim peace hopes are, the militant group Hamas marked the third anniversary of the conflict by carrying a coffin draped with Israeli and US flags through a Gaza refugee camp and vowing to fight until victory.

Major powers steering Middle East diplomacy yesterday put the onus on Palestinians to open the way to fresh peace talks with Israel by cracking down on militants and forming a strong new government able and willing to stop attacks on Israelis.

Meeting against a backdrop of deep pessimism over the deteriorating Middle East conflict, the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations recognised Israel's right to self-defence, but balanced that with calls for an end to settlement activity, criticism of an Israeli security fence and an appeal that Israel minimize civilian casualties. Their common position was almost indistinguishable from that of the United States, Israel's main ally and the only party with strong influence over the Israeli government.

Israel decided in principle this month to "remove" Arafat following a wave of suicide bombings. Israel did not say when or how it would do so but its decision was widely condemned abroad.

"You must realise that it is very difficult to promise that once you grab (Arafat) and take him, he will not be hurt," Mr Sharon said about a possible operation to spirit the Palestinian leader out of his West Bank headquarters in Ramallah.

"In any case, we will have to take US considerations into account," he said. "It is possible they are correct in their assessment that (Arafat's removal) will cause them problems in the Middle East. They are mainly concerned about Iraq."

Israel and the United States accuse Mr Arafat of fomenting bloodshed in the three-year-old Palestinian uprising for statehood but Washington opposes exile, saying it would boost his popularity.

Mr Sharon also indicated he had bowed to US pressure to reroute the West Bank security barrier which Israel says it is building to prevent suicide bombers reaching its cities but which Palestinians call a Berlin Wall to grab Palestinian land.