There are grave threats against Arafat

CAIRO, May 19 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is in great danger from Israel, his foreign minister Nabil Shaath said Monday, May 19, as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's office said that the government will boycott any foreign official who meets Arafat.

"There are grave threats against president Arafat. Israel is talking again about the possibility of invading his headquarters," Shaath told reporters upon his arrival here early Monday, Agence France-Presse reported.

Israel "is not content with besieging Arafat, they continue threatening to attack him, either to arrest or expel him," Shaath said and called on the global community to protect the aging Palestinian leader.

Sharon's spokesman Ranaan Gissin raised the possibility Sunday of Arafat's “disappearance” from the political stage, if not the occupied territories following three bombings over the weekend killed nine people plus the three bombers.

"... When people say 'he's the leader and he's doing this' well, they haven't had the opportunity really to see what it means to live, or to behave or to act without Yasser Arafat calling the shots, literally," Gissin said Sunday, May 18.

Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner also claimed that Arafat had formed an alliance with Islamic resistance movements like Hamas and Islamic Jihad in a bid to sabotage peace efforts led by his rival, Palestinian prime minister Mahmud Abbas.

However Sharon later quashed talk of Arafat's expulsion during an emergency cabinet meeting, Israeli television reported, and Arafat angrily rejected the Israeli charges against him in a telephone interview with U.S. Fox News television channel.

Arafat has been trapped in the West Bank city of Ramallah, ringed by Israeli forces, since December 2001.

For his part, Shaath was expected to meet his Egyptian counterpart Ahmed Maher and brief him on Abbas' meeting late Saturday, May 17, with Sharon, the highest level talks between the two sides since the Intifada against the Israeli occupation erupted 31 months ago.

However, Shaath was not included in the talks by Abbas, who had been feuding with the aging Palestinian leader since before his swearing in as prime minister last month.

Meanwhile, Saeb Erakat, resigned as negotiations minister last week after he was not invited to Abbas' talks with Sharon.

Israel To Boycott Foreign Officials Who See Arafat

Meanwhile, Sharon's office said Monday that the Israeli government will boycott any foreign official who meets Yasser Arafat, as it stepped up moves to “isolate” the Palestinian leader.

Sharon told his cabinet late Sunday in the wake of a bus bombing in occupied Jerusalem that any foreign diplomat or politician who schedules a meeting with Arafat during a trip to the region will not be seen by any Israeli official.

"We have cancelled no meeting already planned with a foreign official, but those who want to see Arafat in the future should know that they will not be able to meet Israeli officials," a high-ranking official explained to AFP.

The bar does not apply to five visits already arranged, including one by French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin, who is to see Arafat on May 26 in his West Bank compound in Ramallah, Israeli public radio said.

So far Sharon has generally avoided meetings with Arafat's guests and now Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom is also expected to boycott them.

Last week Sharon refused to meet European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana because he was to see Arafat, though Solana is to return to Israel in the next few days when he will have talks with Israeli officials.

Sharon ruled out deporting Arafat from the West Bank despite the glamour for his expulsion from right-wingers.

"My position in favor of expelling Arafat is well known and I do not rule out such a move in the future if he continues to be an obstacle and encourage terrorism, but for the moment the timing is not suitable," Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz told army radio Monday.