'Arafat could be target' - Sharon

In a TV interview, Mr Sharon said he had informed US President George W Bush about the change in his position when they met in Washington last week.

However, a US State Department spokesman said nothing had changed in US policy regarding Mr Arafat.

Israel accuses Mr Arafat of supporting Palestinian militants.

Mr Sharon told Israel's Channel Two that in his first meeting with President Bush three years ago "I accepted his request not to harm Arafat physically.

"But I am released from this commitment. I release myself from this commitment regarding Arafat," he said.

Mr Sharon's comments about Mr Arafat come just over a week before a crucial party vote within his Likud party on his unilateral plan for a withdrawal from Gaza.

The BBC's Matthew Price in Jerusalem says tough talk like this may help convince the right wing of his party to get behind their leader.

Rebuke

Israel has killed scores of militants in so-called targeted attacks. In the last month, it has killed both the spiritual and political leaders of Hamas in missile strikes.

But, under pressure from the US, it had refrained from targeting Mr Arafat - for decades, the figurehead of the Palestinian struggle for statehood.

At the beginning of April, Mr Sharon earned a rebuke from the US after he warned Mr Arafat not to "feel immune".

And on Friday the US State Department said it remained opposed to any attempt to assassinate Mr Arafat.

"Nothing has changed in the US position and I will look at the statement and see what we have to say," spokesman Richard Boucher told reporters.

Nabil Abu Rdeineh, an aide to the Palestinian leader, warned that Mr Sharon's "dangerous statements... could push the whole region into tremendous danger".

"We call upon the US administration to clarify its position on these statements and to bear its responsibility toward this escalation," he told AP news agency.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3654231.stm