Will Sharon exile Arafat?

Sharon has denied that he wants Arafat dead

Ariel Sharon, Israel's Prime Minister, is actively considering sending Yasser Arafat into exile.

A report on Israel Radio suggests that Mr Sharon has gone further than ever towards stating his intentions clearly. The dismantling of terrorism in Palestinian areas has come to mean dismantling the structures of the Mr Arafat's stillborn state.

Hence the remorseless reoccupation of large parts of the West Bank - including Ramallah, Qalqilya, Tulkarm and now Bethlehem.

Fighting this morning has been raging near Manger Square and outside the Church of the Nativity, a Roman Catholic priest has been shot dead and several nuns wounded.

'Enemy'

In the eyes of the Israeli government, the Palestinian leader is guilty of far more than failing to stop the suicide bombers: he is, himself, the enemy.

Logically, it would be absurd to rely on your enemy to keep his forces in check. So, Israeli troops have gradually closed in on Mr Arafat until now - like a rat in a trap - he is hiding in the dark amongst the ruins.

All efforts by the outside world to intercede on his behalf have been rebutted - the most recent attempt was by the three permanent envoys to the area, who represent the European Union, the United Nations and Russia. They had asked for and had been refused permission to meet Yasser Arafat in Ramallah.

The diplomatic correspondent for the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, Aluf Benn, told us Mr Sharon had not been able to persuade his coalition partners to accept the proposal to exile Mr Arafat. However, the Palestinian leader could leave voluntarily at any time, without the option to return.

Shimon Peres, Israel's Foreign Minister, took his Labour party into coalition with Mr Sharon on a number of conditions: one was that no attempt would be made to return Mr Arafat to exile.

And the Israeli Ambassador in London, Zvi Shtauber, told us Israel would decide the Palestinian leader's fate democratically.

He insisted that Mr Arafat was responsible for the present crisis and had proved himself "not a partner for peace".

Click on the links above right to hear more, and click here to watch an interview with the Israeli foreign minister Shimon Peres.