Israel rehearsed expelling Arafat - report

The Israeli military has rehearsed expelling Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, it was reported today.

Special forces troops even visited the intended destination, a deserted area in a foreign country, the Israeli newspaper Maariv said.

Arafat would be flown by helicopter from his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah to a spot where “there is no town or population nearby,” the newspaper said.

It quoted officials as saying the operation is ready to be carried out at short notice.

Maariv did not say where Arafat would be taken, but Israeli television said the army had chosen the Libyan desert.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has vowed not to harm Arafat.

But Maariv said Sharon was eager to expel him after a suicide bombing last month in Tel Aviv.

Senior security officials advised Sharon against the move, and instead the army laid siege to the Palestinian leader’s headquarters.

Troops were pulled back earlier this week after intense US pressure.

Israel’s ambassador to the United States, Danny Ayalon, said Arafat is on a “slippery slope” despite a momentary gain in popularity due to Israel’s siege of his compound.

He said that for the first time Palestinians are “second guessing their leaders and demanding accountability”.

But critics of the siege said it has only helped boost Arafat’s popularity.