"I freed myself from this obligation not to physically harm Arafat," Sharon

WASHINGTON, April 24 (IslamOnoline.net & News Agencies) – Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon threat Friday, April 23, that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat was no longer immune from Israeli assassinations drew immediate fire from the United States.

"The president made it clear that he would oppose any such attempts against Mr. Arafat, and the president firmly believes that he has a commitment from Prime Minister Sharon that no such attempt will be made," U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said, appearing on ABC's Nightline program.

Arafat has been confined by Israeli forces to his battered headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah since December 2001, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"I promised [U.S.] President George W. Bush three years ago not to attack Arafat, but I am no longer bound by that promise, and [Arafat] no longer has immunity," Sharon said in an interview on Israel’s Channel Two, to be aired in full on Tuesday, April 27.

"I freed myself from this obligation not to physically harm Arafat," hawkish Sharon said.

However, a senior administration official insisted that the White House considered "a pledge, a pledge."

"We have made it entirely clear to the Israeli government that we would oppose any such action and have done so again in the wake of these remarks" by Sharon, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Bush also "reiterated his opposition" to such Israeli action against Arafat when he met with Sharon here last week and endorsed the Israeli leader's controversial disengagement plan, the official said.

The quick response reflected the Bush administration's concern that Sharon's statement would further inflame anti-American passions in the region.

Bush had drawn worldwide wrath last week by saying Palestinian refugees could not return to land lost in 1948 and Israel could retain occupation of lands in the West Bank, in what is dubbed as a “Bushfour Promise”.

More Bloodshed

"The president made it clear that he would oppose any such attempts against Mr. Arafat, " Powell (AFP)

In a quick retort, Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erakat told AFP Sharon "has decided to physically attack president Arafat. That would open the way to yet more violence and bloodshed".

Ahmed Tibi, an Israeli-Arab member of Israel's parliament, told Reuters that the Palestinian leader asserted to him over that phone that he was not frightened by such threats.

"I am a believer. I am not afraid of Sharon's threats. He has a history of attempting to target me," Arafat told Tibi.

Sharon's remarks echoed what he said three weeks ago, in newspaper interviews ahead of the Jewish feast of the Passover.

The Israeli premier was asked by the daily Haaretz whether Arafat and the head of the Lebanese resistance group Hizbullah, Hassan Nasrallah, might be on Israel's hit list.

"I wouldn't suggest either of them feels immune ... Anyone who kills a Jew or harms an Israeli citizen, or sends people to kill Jews, is a marked man, period," said the Israeli premier, in one of his most threatening remarks to date.

Sharon's first thinly veiled warning followed the March 22 assassination he ordered of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmad Yassin in a helicopter raid on Gaza City, Israel's highest-profile killing since the start of the Palestinian Intifada September 2000.

Last Saturday, Yassin's successor in the Gaza Strip, Abdelaziz Rantissi, was slain in a similar strike in Gaza City.

The Israeli security cabinet approved in principle last September the expulsion of Arafat as an option.