Leaders back away from Arafat threat

JERUSALEM — Israeli leaders yesterday backed away from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s latest threats against Yasser Arafat, saying there are no immediate plans to kill the Palestinian leader.

Mr. Sharon declared during the weekend that he is no longer bound by a promise to the United States not to harm Mr. Arafat.

The comments, which were criticized in Washington, Europe and the Arab world, raised speculation that Mr. Arafat might be in Israel’s cross hairs. In recent weeks, Israel has killed the founder of the militant group Hamas and his successor.

After nightfall yesterday, Palestinian gunmen attacked a vehicle in the southern West Bank, killing one Israeli border policeman and wounding three others, rescue workers said. In another shooting nearby, an Israeli Arab was seriously wounded.

Mr. Sharon accuses Mr. Arafat of supporting terrorism. Under U.S. pressure, however, the Israeli leader has refrained from attacking Mr. Arafat and, instead, has confined him to a compound in the West Bank town of Ramallah for more than two years.

Meanwhile, Mr. Arafat greeted 400 Palestinian schoolchildren at his headquarters yesterday. The students chanted anti-Sharon slogans and called for an end to Israel’s siege of Mr. Arafat.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Mr. Arafat said he is not afraid to die. “Our destiny is to be martyrs in this holy land,” he said.

Nonetheless, Palestinian officials said Mr. Arafat is taking the threats seriously.

“We see these threats as real, and Arafat himself realizes that,” said Hani al-Hassan, a senior official in Mr. Arafat’s Fatah movement. Mr. Hassan said the group had decided to boost security around the Palestinian leader, but gave no details.

With Mr. Arafat’s movements limited, there is little that the Palestinians can do to protect him from Israel’s air force.

However, Israeli Vice Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Cabinet minister Gideon Ezra said Mr. Sharon has no plans to expel or assassinate Mr. Arafat. They said Mr. Sharon merely had repeated a long-standing Israeli position.

“The prime minister doesn’t intend to carry out anything next week or today or tomorrow,” Mr. Olmert, a Sharon confidant, told army radio.

Israel’s Cabinet decided in September that Mr. Arafat should be “removed,” after a pair of suicide bombings killed 15 Israelis.

Mr. Sharon took the threats to a new level in a television interview Friday, saying he had told President Bush that Israel is no longer bound to a pledge not to attack Mr. Arafat.

The remarks drew a quick rebuke from the White House, which stressed that Mr. Bush remains opposed to attempts to harm Mr. Arafat.

Mr. Sharon’s threats appeared to be aimed at winning support among hawkish party members for his plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip and four West Bank settlements.