JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday he is no longer bound by a promise he made to President Bush not to harm Yasser Arafat — the strongest sign yet that Israel could target the Palestinian leader.
In an interview with Israel TV’s Channel Two, Mr. Sharon said he told Mr. Bush about his change of position in a meeting in Washington last week.
Mr. Sharon’s statement, coming after Israel’s recent targeted killing of two senior leaders of the radical Palestinian organization Hamas, threatened to add to growing Arab anger at both Israel and the United States and brought a quick rebuke from Washington.
“We have made it entirely clear to the Israeli government that we would oppose any such action [to harm Arafat] and have done so again in the wake of these remarks,” a senior Bush administration official told reporters in Washington. “We consider a pledge a pledge.”
National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack confirmed the subject had come up in the Bush-Sharon meeting, saying Mr. Bush had made his opposition to a move against Mr. Arafat “pretty clear.”
Palestinian officials condemned what they called Mr. Sharon’s “dangerous statements” and asked the United States to intervene,. Mr. Arafat told reporters he was not intimidated by the Israeli prime minister’s remarks.
Also yesterday, U.S. officials criticized Palestinian officials for allowing militants to storm a Gaza police station and free three men with possible links to the deadly bombing of an American diplomatic convoy last year. In new fighting, Israeli troops killed four Palestinians in raids on suspected militants in the West Bank.
Mr. Sharon has accused Mr. Arafat of supporting Palestinian militants, who have killed more than 900 Israelis during 31/2 years of fighting.
Israel has killed scores of militants, including the leaders of Hamas, in targeted attacks. However, under U.S. pressure, it has refrained from killing or expelling Mr. Arafat, confining him instead to his West Bank headquarters for two years.
Nabil Abu Rdeneh, an aide to Mr. Arafat, warned that Mr. Sharon’s new position “could push the whole region into tremendous danger.”
“We call upon the U.S. administration to clarify its position on these statements and to bear its responsibility toward this escalation,” he said.
In Gaza, Palestinian militants revealed yesterday that they had stormed a police station earlier this week and freed three men with possible links to the deadly bombing of a U.S. diplomatic convoy last October.
The bombing, which killed three American security guards, has strained ties between the Palestinians and Washington. Palestinian authorities still haven’t charged anyone in the case.
In the West Bank yesterday, Israeli troops searching for Palestinian militants raided the town of Qalqiliya, killing three men, including a militant, and seriously wounding a local militant leader.
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