Israel’s assassination of Arafat ‘a matter of time’

CAIRO – An Israeli attempt to assassinate Yasser Arafat is “only a matter of time”, the Palestinian leader’s national security adviser Jibril Rajoub said in an interview published here yesterday.

“An attack on Arafat’s life is only a matter of time because Arafat symbolises the freedom” of the Palestinian people, General Rajoub told the Egyptian weekly magazine Nahdat Mir. On March 22, the leader of the Palestinian radical Islamic movement Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, was killed in an Israeli helicopter raid in Gaza City.And Israel assassinated his successor, Abdelaziz Rantissi, less than a month later.Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was slapped down by his allies in Washington after giving an interview in which he warned that Arafat was a “marked man”.But he renewed the threat in early April, saying his long-time nemesis was to blame for “the murder of Jews for decades” and that “all those who kill Jews or push for the killing of Jews or Israeli citizens deserve to die.”For Rajoub, the assassinations of Sheikh Yassin and Rantissi were designed “to abort the inter-Palestinian dialogue, which was on the point of succeeding” between Arafat’s Palestinian Authority and radical groups.”The Israelis hit us to push us to react,” he said, adding that Hamas retaliation would be “legitimate”.But “the militarisation of the intifada (uprising) and the launching of suicide operations (inside Israel)… have been a strategic error,” Rajoub said.”The resistance should be limited to the occupied zones.”- Nampa-AFPOn March 22, the leader of the Palestinian radical Islamic movement Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, was killed in an Israeli helicopter raid in Gaza City.And Israel assassinated his successor, Abdelaziz Rantissi, less than a month later.Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was slapped down by his allies in Washington after giving an interview in which he warned that Arafat was a “marked man”.But he renewed the threat in early April, saying his long-time nemesis was to blame for “the murder of Jews for decades” and that “all those who kill Jews or push for the killing of Jews or Israeli citizens deserve to die.”For Rajoub, the assassinations of Sheikh Yassin and Rantissi were designed “to abort the inter-Palestinian dialogue, which was on the point of succeeding” between Arafat’s Palestinian Authority and radical groups.”The Israelis hit us to push us to react,” he said, adding that Hamas retaliation would be “legitimate”.But “the militarisation of the intifada (uprising) and the launching of suicide operations (inside Israel)… have been a strategic error,” Rajoub said.”The resistance should be limited to the occupied zones.”- Nampa-AFP