Sharon opposes Arafat exile

Prime Minister Ariel Sharon appeared yesterday to rule out expelling Yasser Arafat, playing down an Israeli threat against the Palestinian president that had drawn international outcry and US misgivings.

Mr Sharon's comments in an Israeli newspaper interview came as an FBI team investigated an attack that killed three American security guards in the Gaza Strip.

"Our calculations for years have been that expelling him would not be good for Israel," Mr Sharon told the conservative Jerusalem Post when asked about last month's decision in principle by his security cabinet to "remove" Mr Arafat.

Mr Sharon said last month any attempt to pluck Arafat out of his West Bank compound would risk harming him and concerns about the 74-year-old Palestinian leader's health have grown since then, although aides say he has recovered from illness.

Asked if there could be a diplomatic breakthrough to bring peace with the Palestinians before Mr Arafat is dead, Sharon said: "I didn't say dead, but in my opinion, as long as he is in control, the chance for progress is non-existent."

Israel accuses Mr Arafat - largely confined to his West Bank headquarters for nearly two years - of fomenting violence in a three-year-old uprising for independence, a charge he denies.

Washington also blames Mr Arafat for the violence but has opposed harming him or exiling him from Palestinian areas.

Responding to Mr Sharon's comments, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said: "This is not a retraction of the Israeli position to kill or deport Arafat."

Ranaan Gissin, a spokesman for Mr Sharon, said the government still believed Mr Arafat must be removed from power but the prime minister had promised US President George W. Bush that the former guerilla leader would not be harmed.

"Since the prime minister gave a personal promise to President Bush that he will not harm him physically, and since there is a possibility that in forced expulsion he may be harmed physically, then this today is not an option," Gissin said.

Speculation that Washington might now back expelling Mr Arafat mounted after the attack on a US diplomatic convoy driving through Gaza on Wednesday.

A team from the Federal Bureau of Investigation met Palestinian security officials at a checkpoint between Israel and the Gaza Strip yesterday to discuss the bombing. Palestinian security officials said the next meeting would be on Monday.