The United States has warned Israel against assassinating Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, saying it would trigger "rage throughout the Arab world".
Mr Ehud Olmert, a mainstream member of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's cabinet, told Israel Radio yesterday that "killing [Mr Arafat] is definitely one of the options".
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Palestinian President Yasser Arafat
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"We are trying to eliminate all the heads of terror, and Arafat is one of the heads of terror," said Mr Olmert, who was elaborating on a decision taken on Thursday by Israel's security cabinet to "remove" Mr Arafat.
But US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell rejected Mr Olmert's remarks. He said that if Mr Arafat was either exiled or killed, "I think you can anticipate that there would be rage throughout the Arab world, the Muslim world and in many other parts of the world."
"The United States does not support either the elimination of him or the exile of Mr Arafat . . . the Israeli government knows that," Mr Powell said.
The cabinet did not say when or how its threat against Mr Arafat would be carried out. The threat followed a recent surge in Israeli-Palestinian violence, including two suicide bombings in Israel on Tuesday that killed 15 people.
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Israel, backed by the United States, blames Mr Arafat (74) for fomenting much of the violence of a nearly three-year Palestinian uprising for statehood in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Mr Arafat denies the charge.
The Israeli military has kept him largely confined to his battered headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah for 21 months.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians demonstrated in support of Mr Arafat throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip on Saturday, and yesterday the protests spread through the Muslim world to nations as far away as Indonesia.