'He'll get what he deserves'

2004-09-22 13:39

Jerusalem - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Wednesday that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat would "get what he deserves", recalling the fate of two assassinated leaders of the radical Hamas movement.

"I have already said that we have acted against the heads of Hamas and against others in the manner that we have judged the most appropriate and at a time we judge most convenient," Sharon told public radio.

"When the time comes to deal with this case (Arafat), we will act in the same fashion," he added.

Asked whether he would meet the same fate as Hamas leaders Sheikh Ahmed Yassin and Abdelaziz Rantissi, who were killed in Israeli air strikes in March and April, Sharon said: "Everyone will get what he deserves."

Murderer

"The day will come, when the time and conditions are ripe, when we will decide what we will do with him," he added.

In an interview published last week, Sharon also raised the prospect of Arafat being assassinated while also saying that he would banished "at a time that suits us."

Asked then by the Yediot Aharonot newspaper whether he saw any difference between Yassin, Rantissi and Arafat Sharon replied: "I don't see any difference.

"He adopted a policy of murder. The way we've dealt with other murderers is the way we'll deal with Arafat."

Arafat has been effectively confined to his headquarters in the West Bank town of Ramallah since December 2001, having been dismissed as an absolute obstacle to peace by Sharon.

Sharon has made a number of previous threats against Arafat's life but any move to either expel or assassinate the Palestinian leader would be fiercely opposed by Washington.

In a thinly-veiled reference to Arafat, United States President George W Bush called Tuesday on world leaders to "withdraw all favour and support from any Palestinian ruler who fails his people and betrays their cause."

"Those who would lead a new Palestinian state should adopt peaceful means to achieve the rights of their people, and create the reformed institutions of a stable democracy," the US leader said in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

- AFP