AL QUDS, Feb 9: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said on Sunday one of the main tasks of his new government would be removing Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

“The new government will face difficult tasks: the war against terrorism and against its leader, the head of the Palestinian

Authority,” said Sharon after President Katsav officially asked him to form a new coalition.

“The new government will have to finish off the battle against terrorism, remove its leadership and create conditions for the emergence of a new leadership with which it will be able to reach a real peace,” he said.

Sharon’s Likud controls 40 out of 120 parliamentary seats following the January 28 polls he won on a promise to continue his hardline policy against the 28-month Palestinian uprising.—AFP