Arafat admits 'mistakes' in government

YASSER ARAFAT, who is under intense pressure to share power and reform his government, confessed yesterday that he has made mistakes but did not say what they were or how he would correct them.

In a decade at the helm of the Palestinian Authority, Arafat has resisted attempts to fight official corruption, reform the security services and relinquish some of his near-absolute powers.

In the Gaza Strip, meanwhile, Israel set off a mysterious explosion in an olive grove near the house of a senior Hamas activist, killing five Palestinians - at least four of them militants - and wounding seven. The main target, Hamas activist Ahmed Jabari, escaped with light injuries.