Sharon 'sleeps with loaded gun'
2005-08-05 14:06
Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon sleeps with a loaded handgun under his pillow because of the threat of an assassination attempt by Jewish extremists opposed to the Gaza pullout, said a newspaper on Friday.
The Maariv daily reported: "Although his personnel security has never been tighter, Sharon likes to keep his pistol."
The Shin Beth internal security services had reported unspecified threats against Sharon from ultra-nationalist Jewish groups vehemently opposed to the evacuation of all 8 000 settlers from the Gaza Strip later this month.
A group of about 20 radicals held a ceremony last month to cast a death curse, known as a pulsa dinura, on Sharon as retribution for his disengagement plan.
Less than two weeks before the withdrawal was due to start, the assassination of the prime minister was perceived by the security establishment as one of the only incidents that could still derail the controversial operation.
A close aide to Sharon could not confirm Maariv's information, but said that the burly former general had repeatedly eluded questions on whether he carried a weapon with a joke.
One of Sharon's predecessors, Yitzhak Rabin, was assassinated on November 4 1995 by a Jewish extremist who wanted to torpedo the 1993 Israeli-Palestinian accords.
- AFP