Israel could deport or arrest Palestinian President Yasser Arafat if he holds up his prime minister's efforts to implement a US-backed "road map" to Middle East peace, Israeli diplomatic sources said today.
"Israel conveyed to Washington that if Arafat continues to undermine Abu Mazen, we will reconsider his location and status," a source said, using Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas's nom de guerre. "By status we mean immunity."
With US backing, Israel has isolated Mr Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah since last year, accusing him of fomenting militant violence in a Palestinian uprising for independence.
Mr Arafat, who ceded power to the moderate Abbas this year under international peacemaking pressure, denies the charge, charging Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with sowing in-fighting among the Palestinians.
"Sharon is working on obstructing the road map," Mr Arafat told reporters in Ramallah.