Israel cabinet moves to exile Arafat

ISRAEL'S security cabinet agreed in principle on Thursday to exile Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, but not immediately, sources close to the government said.

One source said the security cabinet decided to ask the army to prepare a plan for Arafat's exile from the region but decided against swift expulsion because of US opposition. A senior Palestinian official denounced Israel's decision, saying exiling Arafat would destabilise the Mideast.

"Harming Arafat or expelling him will destabilise the region and will only bring disaster to the Israeli people," the official said. The US also opposed expelling Arafat, but for different reasons, saying it would give him greater publicity.

"We don't believe dealing with Arafat through expulsion is going to be helpful at all ," a State Department spokesman said. "It would just give him another stage to play on."

The security cabinet, which groups top government ministers and security officials under Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, met to discuss how to respond to two Palestinian suicide bombings which killed 15 people in Israel on Tuesday.

Israel and the US accuse Arafat of fomenting violence in a three-year-old Palestinian revolt against Israeli occupation. He denies the charge but Israel has confined him to his West Bank headquarters for most of the last 21 months.

Suicide bombings and Israeli attacks on Islamic militants have plunged the region into new bloodshed that has all but buried a US-backed plan for establishing a Palestinian state.

Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said Israel should ignore US objections and banish Arafat from Palestinian territories.

Arafat remained defiant at his badly damaged headquarters in the city of Ramallah, where he has been confined by Israeli army blockades for most of the time since December 2001.

"They can kill me. They have bombs," he told reporters before the cabinet met. Asked if he would leave, he said: "Definitely not. This is the terra sancta, the Holy Land, ." he said.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak had earlier urged Israel not to opt for exile, saying the veteran leader was crucial for the Mideast peace process.

"Nobody can tell what would happen in the Palestinian territories if Arafat is expelled. Terrorism, violence will erupt everywhere," he told a news conference.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres also spoke against expulsion at a Washington news conference.

"I think it will be a mistake. Arafat out of the country will be more bitter and more negative," he said.

Arafat, 74, has denied US and Israeli allegations he has encouraged bloodshed since Palestinians rose up against Israeli occupation in September 2000. He remains influential, despite US and Israeli efforts to isolate him.

In a move that appeared to meet US demands half-way, the Palestinian Authority announced it would unify its security forces under a new national security council that will include Arafat and incoming Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qurie.

Qurie replaces Mahmoud Abbas, a moderate who quit on Saturday complaining Arafat and Israel had undermined his peace efforts and that Washington had not given him enough support.