|
Al Jazeera: Sharon Orders Mofaz To Liquidate Arafat
 |
| Sharon orders Mofaz to liquidate Arafat during a visit to an army base near the West Bank town of Qalkilya |
OCCUPIED
JERUSALEM, April 3 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Israeli Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon ordered his army chief of staff Shaul Mofaz to
immediately liquidate Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in the most
suitable way, the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera reported.
This
order which was not confirmed yet by Israeli sources, came one day
after Sharon suggested that Arafat could leave on a “one-way
ticket” into exile.
"He
will not be able to return," Sharon told reporters.
Sharon
floated the idea of Arafat’s departure during a tour of West Bank
occupation army bases, saying he had been asked by European Union
envoy Miguel Moratinos whether Arafat would be able to leave Ramallah.
“I
told him (Moratinos), if they (European diplomats) would like, they
will fly with a helicopter and will take him from here,” Sharon said
in remarks carried by Israel Radio.
“First, I would have to bring this to the Cabinet. Second, he
can’t take anyone with him. And the third thing is that it would
have to be a one-way ticket,” Sharon said.
Israel TV showed military chief Mofaz urging Sharon to expel Arafat.
During
a joint visit to an occupation army base in the West Bank, Mofaz was
seen telling Sharon: “We should kick him out.” Sharon —
apparently unaware his comments were being recorded — replied, “I
know.” Mofaz continued: “This is an opportunity now that won’t
return.”
However,
Arafat violently rejected Sharon's threat. When asked by the Arabic
satellite channel Al-Jazeera if he would surrender to the occupation
troops outside his door, the Palestinian leader shouted he would
instead chose to be a: "Martyr! Martyr! Martyr!"
Arafat
also repeated the fact that Sharon had received a "green
light" from Washington to conduct the sweeping raids on the West
Bank.
"Is
it possible that Sharon says he obtained the green light from the
United States and nobody in the United States denies it," he
said, adding that "the whole world must know that Israel does not
act and cannot act without America's agreement."
“Is
it his homeland or ours? We were planted here before the prophet
Abraham came, but it looks like they (Israelis) don’t understand
history or geography,” said Arafat.
Asked
how he was coping with little food and water inside his offices,
Arafat replied that "I've lived in caves…. But only God knows
if after this interview they (the Israelis) will not cut the
line," he said.
Palestinians
were outraged by Sharon’s statement.
"This
is a joke," said Arafat adviser Nabil Abu Rudeineh. "Prime
Minister Sharon is not a serious man, and he's waging a war of
aggression against the Palestinian people."
U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell had earlier insisted Arafat
"still has a role to play" and said he was opposed to
pushing him into exile.
"Sending
him into exile will just give him another place from which to conduct
the same kinds of activities and give the same messages that he's
giving now," Powell said.
The
United States is facing anger from the Arab world and elsewhere over
its blind support of Israel.
Arafat
remains inside his office in his badly damaged compound in Ramallah
which Israeli tanks, troops and armored personnel carriers have
surrounded and pounded since last Friday.
He
is now isolated on the ground floor - the safest part of the building
because it has no windows.
According
to the BBC’s online news service, there is no running water and food
supplies are low. Palestinian officials say those trapped inside are
surviving on one potato a day though the Israelis deny this.
Electricity
supplies to the compound were cut.
|
