I will not be sidelined, vows Arafat

YASSER ARAFAT insisted yesterday he would not be sidelined by a Palestinian political shake-up and said his old nemesis, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, was not ready to pay the price for peace.

On the eve of a landmark vote by the Palestinian parliament on incoming prime minister Mahmoud Abbas and his cabinet, the Palestinian president told the Israeli newspaper Maariv he had no intention of fading away.

"I am the elected president of the Palestinian people...the whole world knows this," Mr Arafat was quoted as saying.

"I plan to welcome the many leaders who will come here to Ramallah to meet me in the coming weeks."

Mr Arafat has recently received a trickle of visits by European diplomats, and despite Israeli objections, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi plans to meet him today.

But the United States has shunned him, accusing him of not doing enough to rein in militants an allegation which he denies.

Mr Abbas said on Sunday he would not visit foreign capitals to discuss peace moves until Israel allowed Mr Arafat to travel freely again. Analysts say Mr Abbas fears that accepting a White House invitation now would make him look like a US lackey in Palestinian eyes.

Under intense US and international pressure, Mr Arafat reached a compromise with Mr Abbas on a cabinet made up of Arafat loyalists as well as critics and reformers.

Washington has pledged to unveil a "road map" aimed at reviving negotiations after 30 months of bloodshed once Mr Abbas takes office.

Progress towards Middle East peace could ease Arab anti-American sentiment stoked by the US-led war on Iraq.

While ceding some powers to Mr Abbas, Mr Arafat the icon of Palestinian nationalism since the 1960s has made clear he intends to retain considerable clout despite US and Israeli efforts to push him aside.

Mr Sharon has offered to meet Mr Abbas, a leading moderate, and has spoken in vague terms about making "painful compromises" for peace.

But Mr Arafat expressed doubts about Mr Sharon's sincerity. "Sharon is not prepared to pay the price of peace," he told Maariv.

Mr Sharon's right-wing government put Mr Abbas on notice on Sunday he should not expect any significant confidence-building measures, such as troop pullbacks in the West Bank and Gaza Strip or release of prisoners immediately after taking office.

A senior government source said Mr Sharon and Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz decided that such moves would not take place until Mr Abbas showed he was waging a "serious fight against terrorism".

The Israeli daily Ha'aretz said Mr Abbas had told European diplomats he would use his inaugural speech to call for an end to the use of arms to achieve Palestinian national aspirations. But a Palestinian political source said Mr Abbas may only reiterate his opposition to Palestinian attacks.

Mr Arafat, a 73-year-old former guerrilla leader, repeated his oft-stated view that Mr Sharon was waging a personal vendetta against him.

"I think that this whole thing started in 1982 when I caused him to lose his medals, as well as his position as defence minister, there in Beirut," Mr Arafat was quoted as saying. "I don't know what he wants from me, really I don't."

Mr Sharon, as defence minister, directed Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon that led to a siege of Mr Arafat in Beirut. Mr Arafat and his Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) fighters were forced to evacuate under international protection.

Mr Sharon resigned after an Israeli commission of inquiry found him indirectly responsible for the massacre of hundreds of Palestinians by Lebanese Christian forces in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps in Beirut.

Mr Sharon last year expressed regret to an interviewer that Israel did not kill Mr Arafat when it had a chance in Lebanon.