- JERUSALEM - Israel's domestic
intelligence agency has concluded that Yasser Arafat can maintain his authority
on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip even if he is expelled.
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- "The security establishment has concluded that we
not do this [expel Arafat]," Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said.
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- The assessment was said to represent the consensus of
Israel's intelligence community, Middle East Newsline reported.
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- Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has promised to exile
Arafat if he is the next prime minister.
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- National Security Agency director Avi Dichter told a
Cabinet panel on Wednesday that Arafat can continue the Palestinian insurgency
war from exile abroad. He and other intelligence chiefs were said to have
opposed any Israeli expulsion of Arafat.
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- They said Arafat's international stature would soar and
Israel would be under great pressure to return him to the PA areas. Dichter's
assessment was disputed by Foreign Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu
said Arafat's exile would lead to the erosion of the infrastructure of
Palestinian insurgency groups.
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- Although they oppose Arafat's ouster, Israeli intelligence
chiefs said that the continued rule of the PA chief will prevent any Israeli-Palestinian
agreement. They said Arafat prefers the current war to a compromise solution
with Israel.
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- For their part, Palestinians said they expect Sharon
to expel Arafat during any U.S.-led war against Iraq. Fatah leader Hussein
Al Sheik, responsible for the West Bank, said Israel's government will
destroy the PA and exile Arafat.
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- Sharon has not ruled out the eventual expulsion of Arafat.
He said in an interview on Israeli television that he relayed a pledge
to the United States not "to harm Arafat physically."
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- http://216.26.163.62/2002/me_israel_11_14.html
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