Palestinians rally round Arafat after exile threat

Israel faced an international outcry yesterday over its decision to "remove" Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, a threat that drew tens of thousands of supporters into the streets to rally to his defence.

"The decision yesterday turned Arafat into a hero... and that's a shame," commentator Roni Shaked wrote in Israel's largest newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

Calling Arafat an obstacle to peace but under US pressure not to exile him after two suicide bombings killed 15 Israelis on Tuesday, Israel's security cabinet vowed on Thursday "to remove" him "in a manner that will be determined separately".

The wording left open options that could include killing Arafat - a proposal which Israeli newspapers said Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz raised but Prime Minister Ariel Sharon shot down - or expelling him from the Palestinian territories.

Sources close to the government said it had asked the army to refresh plans to exile Arafat, but not immediately.

After the Israeli decision, thousands of Palestinians flocked to Arafat's headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where Israeli blockades have kept him confined for the past 21 months, and pledged to defend him with their lives.

Crowds numbering in the thousands also rallied in other cities in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in Arafat's support.

A beaming Arafat - again the centre of attention after US attempts to sideline him in Middle East peacemaking - blew kisses and flashed the V-for-victory sign. "Abu Ammar is staying here," he said, using his nom de guerre.

A White House official, who asked not to be named, said exiling Arafat would only "give him an international stage on which he would continue to be an obstacle to peace".

After Israel's decision, Palestinian Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qurie suspended efforts to form a cabinet. He was to take over from Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate who quit a week ago accusing Arafat and Israel of undermining him.

"If these Israeli policies continue against Yasser Arafat, I don't think there is any meaning to forming any government or any effort to try to control the situation," Qurie told the Qatar-based Al Jazeera television news channel.

The al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, an armed group with links to Arafat's Fatah group, said it would attack Israelis "everywhere, inside Israel and in the occupied areas", if he was expelled.

Sharon has been under pressure from many members of his right-wing cabinet to banish Arafat. Their calls grew louder after this week's suicide attacks.

Taking action against him could also help boost Sharon's popularity among Israelis, who an opinion poll showed yesterday have grown dissatisfied with his handling of security matters and largely favour either killing Arafat or expelling him.

Israel and the United States have accused Arafat, 74, of fomenting bloodshed during the three-year-old uprising for statehood and of working against a US-backed peace "road map" battered by recent tit-for-tat violence. He denies the charge.

But Sharon had resisted expulsion calls, fearing Arafat, largely sidelined internationally, would win world sympathy.