Israel keeps Arafat guessing but pulls troops back

Israel insisted today it will eventually “remove” Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat as an obstacle to peace, despite international condemnation.

But the country’s leaders left their statements intentionally vague and put off immediate action to avoid a direct clash with the United States, leave options open and keep the Palestinian chief wary and guessing.

Israel appeared to pull back from any immediate operation, by withdrawing soldiers from two buildings overlooking Arafat’s compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

The 74-year-old Palestinian leader was defiant, declaring before thousands of supporters that no one will “kick me out.”

The Israeli threats only seemed to bolster Arafat, who has been trapped in his office for 18 months by Israel.

Thousands of Palestinians turned out in West Bank towns today promising to defend Arafat with their own lives.

Reacting to two Palestinian suicide bombings that killed 15 Israelis this week, Israel’s security cabinet on declared Arafat “a complete obstacle” to peace, blaming him for the violence.

It added, “Israel will work to remove this obstacle in the manner, at the time, and in the ways that will be decided on separately.”

That wording makes room for several options: deporting Arafat, capturing him or killing him.

However, when Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz talked of killing Arafat during the Cabinet meeting, Sharon asked him not to use that language.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell told Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath today that he had pressed Israel to call off any immediate move to oust Arafat, Shaath said.

“Mr Powell told me that the United States acted effectively yesterday to stop any Israeli measure,” Shaath said.

Powell also gave him assurances that the United States would push Israel to meet key commitments of the stalled “road map” peace plan, in particular to withdraw forces from Palestinian cities and freeze settlement activity, Shaath said.

International condemnations of the Israeli decision were wall-to-wall, with the French warning that expelling Arafat would be an error and the Arab League saying Israel had in effect “declared war” on the peace process.

The United States said such a move would not be helpful. “We believe it would be a terrible mistake that would have serious consequences across the whole region,” EU spokesman Diego Ojeda said.

Israel believes Arafat is at least indirectly to blame for militant attacks over the last three years of fighting and charges that he’s done nothing with the security forces under his control to stop bomb attacks on Israelis.