| Arafat ready to die - - Palestinian minister Shaath |
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BEIRUT, March 29 (Reuters) - Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat is ready to die in a confrontation with Israeli forces
who smashed their way into his compound in the West Bank,
Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Shaath said on Friday.
"He is calm, he is steadfast, he is sure, not afraid of
death. He never was," Shaath told Reuters television in Beirut,
adding that he was in touch by telephone with Arafat.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, calling Arafat an
enemy, said he had decided to send troops to Ramallah, blaming
the Palestinian leader for failing to prevent attacks against
Israelis during the past 18 months of an uprising against
occupation.
Five Palestinians and one Israeli soldier were killed in
gunbattles on Friday after about 100 tanks and armoured
personnel carriers entered Ramallah. Israeli armour surrounded
Arafat's office and took over at least one building inside the
compound.
The raid came a day after an Arab summit in Beirut backed a
Saudi peace initiative offering Israel normal ties with Arab
states in exchange for its withdrawal from occupied Arab land
and allowing the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Shaath said Israeli forces were killing civilians on the
street. "It is like a duck shoot," he said, adding that he would
try to join Arafat in the West Bank on Friday.
He said Israeli "tanks and and heavy armoured cars are just
three yards below his (Arafat's) office...".
((Beirut editorial +9611 983885, fax +9611 983889,
beirut.newsroom@reuters.com))