Posted on 10/05/2004 12:25:05 PM PDT by yonif
CAIRO - Comparing himself to South Africa's Nelson Mandela, Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat said in an interview published Tuesday that he will step down from office after he has ruled an independent Palestinian state.
Arafat, in the interview with the London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat, said he wouldn't impose himself as a candidate for re-election, but the Palestinian leader, elected in 1996, still holds all the keys to decision-making in his territories.
He compared himself to Mandela, 86, who became South Africa's first black president in 1994 and stepped down five years later to assume the role of an elder statesman. Mandela shared a Peace Nobel Prize with F.W. de Klerk in 1993, a year before Arafat shared the same prize with late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres.
"I am ready to be Nelson Mandela," Arafat said in an apparent reference to Mandela's withdrawal from political office. "I agree, but (only) after the Palestinian state is established and I am its president. Then I leave it to others."
No date has been set for the legislative and presidential elections Arafat announced last month, but he said he would respect the decisions of Palestinian leaders.
"What the Palestinian leadership decides, I commit to," he said. "In the end, I won't impose myself."
However, Arafat has repeatedly sidelined any potential challengers to his authority and consolidated his power base. Few believe he would step aside in the elections.
The one-page interview was conducted early Thursday, on the fourth anniversary of the Palestinian uprising. It was the same day Israel launched an open-ended offensive in the Gaza Strip, which the army says is aimed at stopping Palestinian militants from firing rockets at Israeli towns close to the Strip.
The Israeli incursion killed at least 68 Palestinians in six days, making it the deadliest into Gaza in more than four years of fighting.
Arafat, speaking as the raid was beginning, said he would not be surprised if the offensive targets his house in Ramallah, where he has been confined by Israeli military sieges since 2002.
Arafat, 75, said threats to expel or kill him "don't concern me."
"I don't care about myself. I am not pretending or acting. What I care about is my people," he said. "Aren't we (Palestinians) all potential martyrs?"
He dismissed European and American assurances that Israel would not harm him.
"Does (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon respect the promises he makes to the Americans?" he asked. "Does he respect anyone in the world?"
Israel does not recognize Arafat as a negotiating partner, and has been dealing with mediators to organize its unilateral pullout of the Gaza Strip, scheduled to take place next year.
Arafat said that because the Israelis have not honored any of the agreements reached in negotiations since the mid 1990s, it is difficult for him to control his people as they watch daily Israeli attacks.
"We must take into consideration that people - before the massacres committed every day - become uncontrollable," he said. "One way or the other, the militarization of the intifada is a natural thing in light of the occupation and massacres."
Arafat said he does not condone attacks on civilians. But asked about a possible cease-fire, he said the Palestinians have offered cease-fires before that were violated by the Israelis.
Arafat, sounding skeptical about the creation of a Palestinian state, said a new scheme was being drafted in the region. Asked if it was drawn up by the Israelis or the Americans, he said: "Everybody."
The scheme includes "no Palestinian state and no peace or stability in the Middle East," Arafat said without elaborating. However, he pointed to reported Israeli presence in Iraq and an American proposal of reform floated under the name "the Greater Middle East."
The only way out of the current crisis, he said, "is a big international push to implement the road map," he said, referring to the internationally backed peace plan that has been largely ignored during recent violence.
Arafat said he hopes that after the U.S. elections in November, there will be more efforts exerted to revive peace talks.
I guess he plans on living until he is 137.
I guess that is never, then.
Don't hold your breath, Greasy Ringo.
God, he already looks like Yoda, and he is gonna be cold from all that ice.
If you believe that one, I've got some seafront property in Kansas to sell you.
Then the Israelis are stuck with him (for just as long as they're willing to be).
Memo to Arafat: No one's negotiating with you, so you have no say over the fate of the Arab's in Judea any more.
Umm, isn't he Egyptian?
well that's that - no palestinian state - because - Arafat would not be happy if he couldn't order the murder of innocent jews - lets just hope that he is taken out of the way sooner or later. It would be better for the palestians and the israelis.
Me thinks the "next step" Yassir is going to be taking is into the grave!
Watch out for the 1st step Ararat, it's a long way down to hell.
i meant sooner than later.
Ping.
At least!!
DIE YASSER DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The thing he will be remembered for once he takes a dirt nap is that he was the leader of a failed cause.
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