TEL AVIV, Oct 27: Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said for the first time in public on Monday that Israel has no plans to kill Palestinian President Yasser Arafat despite the Israeli government’s vow to remove him from power.

Israel’s security cabinet decided in principle last month to “remove” Arafat and Sharon’s deputy, Ehud Olmert, had said killing the 74-year-old symbol of Palestinian nationalism was an option.

“I don’t see any plans to kill him, although the man is responsible for deaths of hundreds, of thousands of mostly civilians because his strategy is a strategy of terror,” Sharon told a group of European parliamentarians visiting Israel.

Sharon’s statement followed weeks of speculation on how and when Israel might carry out its threat to oust Arafat, which has drawn an international outcry and strong U.S. opposition.

Political sources had said Sharon had ruled out assassinating Arafat, but it was the first time the right-wing Israeli leader has done so publicly.

Taking note of international criticism, Sharon told the European delegation: “I’m afraid to even mention the words ‘to kill him’.”

Some Israeli cabinet members have talked openly of expelling Arafat, who has been confined by Israeli tanks to his West Bank compound in Ramallah for much of the past two years.

Sharon appeared to rule out exiling Arafat in an interview earlier on Oct 17, saying it would be damaging for Israel if it harmed him. But in a major policy speech on Oct 20, he said Israel was determined to “remove” Arafat.

Arafat has had a recent spate of health problems but his doctors says he has no serious ailment.

The Hamas group said on Monday it was ready to talk to Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei about his proposal for halting attacks against Israelis and said that a commitment would depend on whether Israel would stop its own attacks on Palestinians. —Reuters