RAMALLAH, West Bank, Sept 27 (AFP) - The intifada has developed into one of the grimmest chapters in the life of Yasser Arafat, who is confined to his headquarters, showered with death threats and the target of growing calls for reform.
Now aged 75, the man who once shuttled from capital to capital to promote the Palestinian cause has not ventured out of his West Bank offices since they were surrounded and then pounded by Israeli forces in December 2001, some 15 months after the outbreak of the uprising.
Appeals to Israel for an end to the siege have fallen on deaf ears and the veteran leader appears to have no plan B to execute a reversal of fortune.
Over the last 12 months, his arch enemy Ariel Sharon has given him ever more reason to fear the consequences if he dares leave his confines.
Israeli premier Sharon's inner cabinet voted in principle last September to "remove" Arafat from his headquarters, known as the Muqataa.
While Arafat responded by insisting Israel "will never take me alive", subsequent events show his killing is a red line Israel may be prepared to cross.
Israel came in for a welter of criticism in March when it assassinated the founder of the Islamist movement Hamas, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, in an air strike in Gaza. It accounted for his successor, Abdelaziz Rantissi, in similar fashion the next month.
Asked in a recent interview whether he saw any difference between Yassin, Rantissi and Arafat, Sharon replied: "I don't see any difference.... The way we've dealt with other murderers is the way we'll deal with Arafat."
While Arafat's expulsion or assassination would be fiercely opposed by Washington, Palestinian negotiations minister Saeb Erakat said the threats by Sharon and other ministers show Israel is preparing the ground for such a move.
The assassination of Yassin and Rantissi has ironically served to eliminate two of Arafat's chief rivals.
Marwan Barghuti, head of Arafat's Fatah faction in the West Bank, is also in no position to jockey for power after being handed five life sentences by Israel in June.
Polls show Barghuti, regarded as the intifada's inspiration, is second only to Arafat in popularity terms among Palestinians.
And US efforts to render Arafat irrelevant by only dealing with his moderate prime minister Mahmud Abbas ended in failure when Abbas resigned a year ago after a protracted power struggle.
Sources inside the Muqataa say Arafat's determination to keep his grip on power remains as strong as ever.
Telecommunications minister Azzam Al-Ahmed, one of his closest allies, said Arafat and the Palestinian leadership's strategy was to "remain steadfast".
"We know the Israeli policy is to destroy the resolve of the Palestinian people, by escalating the policy of assassinations, destroying houses and taking more land," he said.
"The Palestinian leadership will not give up, or surrender to the Israeli conditions. We will continue our struggle, and remain steadfast in the face of any solution that we don't believe in."
Arafat made a rare admission of fallibility in August when he told MPs his Palestinian Authority had made "unacceptable mistakes".
His speech came after he managed to persuade current premier Ahmed Qorei to retract a resignation offer, submitted in the wake of a spate of kidnappings which had highlighted a crisis in law and order.
The security crisis has prompted ever louder calls from international leaders for Arafat to loosen his grip on the security services.
Even his own MPs have become increasingly vocal in their calls for reform, suspending sittings this month in protest at the lack of action.
Mufid Abed Rabbo, a Fatah MP, said the realisation had sunk in with Arafat that there was little prospect of an end to his virtual prisoner status.
"President Arafat believes that whatever he does, the Israeli government will not respond positively.
"Arafat's strategy is that even with the threats to kill him, he must stay defiant. This is the only strategy he has got."