Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said his pledge to the US not to harm Palestinian President Yasser Arafat no longer holds, declaring that Arafat and the head of Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas are potential targets for assassination.
In an interview set for broadcast yesterday by Israeli Army Radio, Sharon said that three years ago he promised US President George W. Bush that Israel would not harm Arafat, but since then circumstances have changed.
"Arafat was given red carpet treatment everywhere in the world. Today it is clear to the US and to everyone just who Arafat is," Sharon said. Israel and the US are boycotting Arafat, charging that he is responsible for Palestinian violence.
On March 22, Israel assassinated Sheik Ahmed Yassin, founder and spiritual leader of the violent Islamic Hamas movement, and officials said Israeli forces would mete out similar treatment to others involved in the organization or execution of attacks against Israel.
Asked by the Army Radio interviewer if that meant Arafat and Hezbollah's Sheik Hassan Nasrallah were targets, Sharon replied, "Whoever aims to kill Jews, whoever sends murderers to kill Jews, is marked for death."
Israel accuses Arafat of not only ignoring violent groups operating from his territory under his control, but also actively encouraging attacks against Israelis. Nasrallah said earlier this week that his militant Shiite Muslim Lebanese group will help Hamas avenge Yassin's death.
Hezbollah and Israel fought a bloody 18-year guerrilla war in south Lebanon before Israel's withdrawal in 2000, and the two remain bitter enemies.
Sharon said he had not sought US approval for any strike against Arafat or Nasrallah.
"I didn't ask permission from anyone," he said.
"I want to emphasize again that anyone who kills Jews because they are Jews is marked for death," he said.
Hamas has claimed responsibility for suicide bomb attacks that have killed hundreds of Israelis during more than three years of conflict.
Sharon made similar threats in other interviews ahead of the Jewish Passover holiday.
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