PARIS, June 13: Mohamed Dahlan, 41, tipped as successor to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, said on Thursday Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon wanted nothing less than to physically eliminate Yasser Arafat.

“He’s destroyed the Palestinian authority, he comes in and out of Ramallah when he pleases. But the violence continues. So, he’s forced to make the Israelis believe that the only solution left is to eliminate Arafat.”

But, notes Mr Dahlan, in a rare interview to French daily Le Figaro, “has he (Sharon) thought about what comes after? Has Sharon ever asked himself that question? There are two solutions: eliminate Yasser Arafat or undertake the peace process. He doesn’t want the second solution. He will continue his aggression and the results will be even worse.”

As for his own political career, all that Mr Dahlan - who’s been described by a number of Western leaders as a “possible” and “acceptable” successor to President Yasser Arafat - will say is that he wants nothing ever more to do with security police.

Although he first attracted the attention of the West as an astute negotiator during the Oslo accords, he went on to take on the near impossible job of operating the Palestinian “preventive security” forces in Gaza, at a time when the Palestinian authority was collaborating with Israel.