Arafat "will Get What He Deserves", Warns Israeli P.M.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon renewed his threats against arch-enemy Yasser Arafat, insisting the Palestinian leader "would get what he deserves" as he recalled 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 on Wednesday.
"When the time comes to deal with this case (Arafat), we will act in the same fashion."
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.
"The day will come, when the time and conditions are ripe, when we will decide what we will do with him."
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.
In an interview published last week, Sharon said Arafat would be banished "at a time that suits us" but also evoked the possibility of his assassination by saying that he would deal with the Palestinian leader "in the same way we've dealt with other murderers".
Sharon has made a number of previous threats against Arafat's life although any move to either expel or assassinate the veteran leader would be fiercely opposed by Washington.
In a thinly-veiled reference to Arafat, US 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".
The Palestinian government reacted angrily to Bush's comments, pointing out that he was their democratically-elected leader.
"The Palestinian people chose its leadership through free and democratic elections and the whole world should respect the democratic choice of the Palestinian people," negotiations minister Saeb Erakat told AFP.
Bush also used a speech at the UN General Assembly to deliver a rare rebuke to the Israeli government, by calling for a freeze on Jewish settlements and an end to the "daily humiliation" of the Palestinian people at checkpoints.
A source close to Sharon played down the criticism, saying his words needed to be seen in the context of his battle to win support for the war in Iraq.
"He said what he said because he wanted to present himself as an honest-broker, but he asked us to do things that we are already doing," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"We are not doing it 100 percent but we are trying, especially concerning the roadblocks.
"We are not building new settlements, we intend to dismantle those that are unauthorised. In fact he was demanding what we are doing."
Under the terms of the internationally-drafted roadmap peace plan, Israel is obliged to dismantle all the unauthorised settlement outposts and freeze all building work in government-authorised settlements.
However no more than a handful of the estimated 100 outposts have been torn down since the roadmap's launch last year while US officials have turned a blind eye to "natural growth" projects in larger settlements.
Palestinian labour minister Ghassan Khatib said it would take more than words from Bush to ensure a change in policy from the Sharon government.
"These are beautiful words but Israel will not pay attention to just words," Khatib told AFP.
In events on the ground, a Palestinian militant from the Islamic Jihad movement was killed by Israeli fire in the northern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
Islamic Jihad and the Israeli army said that Ossama al-Araj had been on a mission to plant an explosive device near the Erez border crossing.
Fifteen Palestinians were also wounded when Israeli troops fired rubber-coated bullets to break up a protest against the West Bank barrier near the central city of Ramallah.
Armed clashes also broke out during a brief Israeli incursion in the northern West Bank town of Jenin when forces tried to arrest two wanted Palestinians who managed to escape.
Meanwhile, the so-called diplomatic quartet which drafted the roadmap -- the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia -- was due to meet in New York on Wednesday.