In a wide-ranging interview with Italy‘s La Stampa newspaper, the Palestinian president also accused the Jewish state of planning to assassinate Palestinian leaders. Arafat discussed the Middle East with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Pope John Paul before leaving the country. The visit has taken on added urgency with the killing of eight Palestinians, including two children, by Israel on Tuesday in a missile strike which it said was in self defence. „Observers are an important step not only for us but for everyone and they are needed very quickly,“ he told La Stampa. „After Tuesday‘s massacre at Nablus we have reached the point of tragedy, we are at the point where the Middle East crisis could have international repercussions,“ he said. Washington called the attack on the Nablus office of a top official of the militant Hamas group, which has carried out bombings in Israel, „excessive“ and „highly provocative“. In the interview with La Stampa, Arafat said the Israeli cabinet had approved a plan to kill high-level Palestinians.

Israeli media have speculated in recent weeks that the government might now, after 10 months of violence and the failure to achieve any breakthrough towards peace, try to bring down Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. The Israeli government has denied this and security sources in Israel say such moves could cause chaos in the Gaza Strip and West Bank and might not help bring peace to the region. Arafat said he was still willing to deal with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who also visited Italy last month.

After meeting Berlusconi, Arafat travelled to Castelgandolfo, southeast of Rome, to hold talks with Pope John Paul at the Pontiff‘s summer residence. Arafat urged him to support the Mitchell plan and condemn Israel for the latest spate of violence. The Pontiff, who made a historic visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories last year, supports the creation of a Palestinian homeland but also defends the right of Israel to exist within secure borders. The Vatican would like to see Jerusalem given international status as a sacred city for the world‘s three great monotheistic religions but Israel, which considers Jerusalem its „united and eternal“ capital, rejects this.
Reuters