‘I don’t care...’ Arafat dismisses Israeli threat

By: Ahmad Hammadi

NABLUS, West Bank: Palestinian President Yasser Arafat on Saturday has brushed aside Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon’s threats to kill him saying “For me, I don't care… I care only for my people.”

Sharon had threatened in interviews published Friday that Arafat and Lebanese Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah were not immune, when asked whether Israel would try to kill them.

Arafat responded in remarks to reporters at his West Bank headquarters in the town of the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he has been confined to his headquarters for more than two years.

Last month, Israel assassinated Hamas founder Sheik Ahmed Yassin drawing world condemnation.

Separately, the Israeli military arrested 2-dozen Palestinians on Saturday in an arrest raid in the West Bank city of Nablus. According to witnesses more than 70 jeeps entered the city before dawn and soldiers ordered people out of homes during the raid.

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